The Meeting of Camille and Melanie
by pikachu13
Summary: In our latest chapter of TMOCAM, The girls and their Autobot guardians attend a baseball game, only to have an unexpected situation on their hands. This one's a shorty but still a fun read if your into cuteness.
1. Chapter 1

Greetings everyone! First off, the human character Camille in this story belongs to me, and the other human character, whose name is Melanie, belongs to my fellow fanfiction writer, Trackster. Used with permission of course! This is my version of how our characters meet for the first time.

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**The Meeting of Camille and Melanie**

It was an unusually warm Saturday that one November, the afternoon sun was perched precariously on a pile of clouds, just like a cherry atop a giant ice cream sundae. The sun's rays shone through the large windows of my uncle's airplane hangar like laser beams, blinding me as I walked through them. I scrunched my eyebrows and used my free hand to shield my eyes. My other hand was already occupied holding a small red ice chest. When I walked up to my uncle's plane, I set the ice chest down on the floor next to it. The sound it made when I set it on the floor stirred the two legs poking out from beneath it. My uncle rolled himself out from under his plane, sat up and reached for the chest with a smile.

"Thanks sweetheart, what's on the menu for dinner today?" he asked.

I sadly looked down and sighed. "Sandwiches...again. I'm sorry Unc--"

He calmly smiled and put up his hand to assure me that he wasn't upset.

"Don't be sorry hun, your meals are more than adequate. I wasn't really eating anything till you came along. Besides, after my brother, I mean, your father passed away, and you came to live with me, I've enjoyed having you here with me. Your company is, well, let's just say, I don't know what I'd do without it! Your meals are just an added bonus."

I smiled wholeheartedly, as I removed a sandwich from the ice chest, and sat down next to him. He used his free hand and gave me a squeeze then we continued to eat.

With the last of the sun's rays sinking into the western sky, we started to pack up and get ready to head for home. My uncle paused for a second, and then spoke.

"Hun, there's just one thing left that I have to do, there's an old hangar a couple of stalls over, that I left my hat in, I need to go get it before we--"

"I'll go get it for you!" I interrupted.

"Okay, here's the key. Oh, and the guy who owns the hangar and the plane inside left a note on the door saying not to touch ANYTHING in there. So just grab the hat and come back."

The tone in which he spoke caused my smiling face to turn serious.

"Umm okay. I'll be right back."

I took the keys from his hand and ran to the old hangar. When I approached the door, I could hear metal scraping and grinding from within. It almost sounded as if the plane inside was moving on its own! But that would have been crazy! I stuck in the key and turned the lock, the click sound it made was barely audible due to the grinding metal sound, but suddenly the grinding sound stopped! It was as if the thing making the grinding metal sound had heard me turn the lock! The silence that followed was somewhat disturbing and unnatural; I started feeling a little uneasy as I proceeded to open the door. I ever so quietly cracked the door and looked inside and noticed it was very dark. I hit the switch by the door, and the ceiling lights slowly flickered on; little by little they started to reveal a dark-looking military jet in the center of the hangar.

I stared in awe at it for a moment, my mouth slightly ajar, as I have never seen one up close.

Most of the planes my uncle repaired were small freight planes. When I finally located my uncle's favorite cap, I walked over to it. It was hanging on the edge of a chair at a desk. I was just about to reach for it when I saw a small rodent pass right in front of me at my feet. I didn't want to step on it so I jumped back, bumping into a file cabinet. But I must of hit it a little too hard as it caused a sea of small metal objects to rain down on my head. Luckily they didn't hurt.

I remember what my uncle had said about touching anything so I gathered them up and put them back on the cabinet as neatly as I could, If I would of left them where they were, the owner of the hangar would known for sure that someone was there messing with this stuff. I frantically gathered them up and put them back on top of the file cabinet. Confident that all was now back the way it was, save for the hat I was sent to get, I turned and started to walk towards the door.

Suddenly, the scraping and grinding of metal started up again, only this time I saw where it was coming from! The jet in the middle of the hangar was moving! Its frame twisted this way and that till it became a recognizable figure. I could clearly make out two legs, two arms, and a head, that was watching me with a pair of piercing red eyes that definitely didn't look friendly! It gave a low guttural growl then swiftly approached me. I couldn't believe what I was looking at! Its size was intimidating! So much that I toppled backwards and landed on my butt.

"The sign said not to touch anything!" It roared at me.

I was speechless.

"My scanners detect one of my components that was on top of that file cabinet is still missing. Give it back to me!" It shouted opening its palm towards me.

I gave it a disgruntled look. I felt accused! Of course I would of known if I secretly kept a piece for myself, but I put it all back! I didn't have anything! I took a deep breath, about to announce that I didn't have it when his fist came crashing down in front of me, leaving a crater-like hole in the concrete floor. I swallowed those words. This was getting serious. I slowly reached into my pocket and threw the current contents (which happened to be a large screw, a couple of washers, and a few pennies) as hard as I could in a dark corner of the hangar. As soon as the gigantic robot turned towards it, I grabbed my Uncle's hat and ran for the door as fast as I could. I could feel its quick, heavy footsteps pounding the ground towards the dark corner. Its impacts were so strong, that running at full speed was somewhat difficult. I bolted for my Uncle's hangar and once I got there, I quickly swung open the door with all my might. I stood in the doorway, a little out of breath.

"Got the hat! Let's go NOW."

I hastily pushed him out the door and towards his truck.

"What's the rush sweetheart?" I didn't want to tell him the truth, so my thoughts raced for an answer, then suddenly, I had one.

"Missing my favorite TV show! We gotta hurry!" And with that, we left the airfield. I turned and looked out the back window, relieved that the robot monster was not giving chase. I sat back and exhaled deeply.

Once we arrived home, I sat on the couch with that weird feeling in my stomach, like my ordeal wasn't over. After a good couple of hours in front of the boob tube, long after my Uncle had called it a night, I had the feeling I wasn't alone. I walked to the kitchen and gazed through the see-through curtains over the sink and saw nothing. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep till I proved to myself that there was nothing, so I opened the back door and walked out along the side of the house, till I got to the front yard. I heard a twig snap and I froze, then my eyes widened as a thin red beam scanned me from head to toe.

"You DO still have it! Give it to me!"

That crazed jet bot was back! I didn't know what to do! Just then there was a brilliant flash of light and I covered my eyes. Before I shut them, I was sure the lights I saw were from the headlights of a car. I got down on my knees and proceeded to cover my head. I could hear laser fire and the jet bot yelling, then a transforming sound and then, silence. I figured it was safe to open my eyes, but when I did, there were a pair of red legs towering in front of me! I didn't even hear him approach me! I assume he was like the other, so I cowered and yelled out at him.

"I don't have it!"

His soothing, deep male voice responded.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you. Are you okay?"

I was astonished at the difference in personality! One was nice, and one was mean! It was like day and night! I slowly uncovered my head and marveled at my majestic hero.

"So you've got Decepticon problems huh?" He said.

I looked dumbfounded. "Huh?"

"Starscream, how'd you end up in his company?"

"Is that what that thing's name is? Well, that freak kept asking for something that I don't even have!"

"And what would that be?" He looked down at me curiously with a smile, making me blush.

"I don't know…hey, how'd you know I was here to save me?" I questioned.

"I didn't! I was just out on patrol and picked up a Decepticon signature. I followed it and boom, there you were, all helpless and stuff. Which makes me think, I should take you to Autobot headquarters and inform Prime of the whole incident."

"Autobot?" "Prime?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Autobots. That's what we are, see this insignia?" He pointed to his chest.

"We're the good guys. Optimus Prime is our leader. The bad guys are the Decepticons. My name's Sideswipe. What's yours?"

"Camille." I said with a smile.

"Well, hop in Camille, I'll take you to Prime."

And with that, the gigantic robot shuffled down into the shape of a badass looking red Ferrari. I smiled and hopped in the driver's seat and together we rode off to the base.

Once there, I was at a loss of words when I saw their Spaceship smashed into the side of the dormant volcano. We stopped right at the entrance and I stepped out of Sideswipe and he immediately transformed back into his robot mode. I could see a group of tall Autobots approaching us. Then I noticed one of them had a young lady on his shoulder.

"Sideswipe, what have you to report? And who is this?" The tallest of the bots asked.

"Prime, Starscream was attempting to abduct this human, luckily I was in the area and managed to hold him off. This is Camille. She said that he was chasing her because she had something of his, but she swears she has nothing."

"Hmmm…hello Camille. My name is Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. If Starscream does return for you, I allow you to stay here as long as you like."

He turned to the Autobot with the girl on his shoulder.

"Tracks, let Mel take her to her quarters."

The Autobot nodded and brought his hand to his chest. She hopped into his palm, and he put her down right in front of me.

"Hi Camille. I'm Melanie. Welcome to Autobot headquarters!"

The girl with wavy brown hair smiled and extended her hand to me, which I happily shook with a smile.

"The barracks are this way." She said pointing the way with her hand.

Suddenly I stopped. "Oh shoot!"

Mel stopped and turned towards me. "What's wrong?"

"I just remembered, when that Starscream was trying to get me, I totally forgot to tell my Uncle that I left! Is there a way I can call him and let him know I'm safe?"

"Sure, I'll let you borrow my cellphone. Here." She pulled her phone from her back pocket and handed it to me.

Immediately I dialed home. Like I had guessed, my Uncle had picked up on the first ring.

"Hi Unc, naw I'm fine. What? Oh um, my friend uh… Mel. Melanie picked me up and asked me to spend the night at her house tonight. Who is she? Oh uh…just some old College buddy. Yeah, no I'll be okay. Sorry I didn't tell you when I left, you looked so peaceful and I didn't want to wake you. What? Yeah, I got a ride back. I gotta go so I'll see you tomorrow okay? Alright I will. Bye."

"College buddy?" Mel said, aware of my little white lie.

"He would freak if he knew the real story! I'll tell him the truth someday, just not right now."

As the pair walked deeper into the base, there was movement on the cliff outside not far from them. Lazerbeak, the Decepticon's reconnaissance unit squawked happily as it retracted its head-mounted microphone and took off for the Decepticon base. Once inside, he flew towards the command bridge, transformed into a cassette and slid into the tape deck chest of a large dark blue Decepticon standing at the entrance.

"Lazerbeak has returned Megatron." Soundwave uttered in his cold, monotone voice.

The words stirred a large gray menacing looking robot with a bullet shaped head and a huge cannon mounted on his right arm. He ran his black fingers over his chin as if feeling a beard that wasn't even there.

"Excellent. Play back his findings." He commanded.

Lazerbeak then replayed the dialogue he recorded moments earlier. When the transmission was over, Megatron sat back in his chair.

"So that idiot Starscream still hasn't recovered that missing component." He opened up a communication channel and yelled, "Starscream! Report to the bridge!"

A few seconds later, the doors to the command bridge opened and Starscream walked cockily towards his leader.

"You called oh mighty Megatron?"

"Lazerbeak has informed me that you still haven't recovered that missing component! Due to your failure, it appears that I must assign more capable Decepticons to this task. Soundwave, dispatch Rumble and Ravage to capture the human and bring her to our old abandoned rock quarry base, there we will order the Autobots to surrender the component for her life. And to make sure the Autobots follow, have those two purposely set off the alarm before they leave."

"As you wish, Megatron. Rumble, Ravage, eject. Operation: Abduction."

Suddenly two cassetticons ejected from Soundwave's chest and immediately transformed into their alternate modes, one was shaped liked a man, while the other was a black panther.

"You two better not fail me." Megatron said, his voice full of malice.

"Don't worry about us boss!" Rumble exclaimed as he raised his hand to his brow.

Then the two took off for the Autobot base.

Back at the Autobot base, the Transformers were all sitting Indian style on the floor watching Earth movies on Teletraan-1's monitor. Optimus took a break from the movie and suddenly turned and questioned me in regards to the component that Starscream was searching for.

"Camille, that component that you supposedly have, you're sure you don't have it?"

"Positive!"

"Would it be okay if I scanned you for it?"

"Well, yeah. I guess."

I flinched as the same red scanning beams Starscream used blanketed me from head to toe.

"Hmm…strange. I'm picking up a hint of Cybertronian alloy."

"What? Still? I don't get it! Where?" I stood up and started to unzip my hoodie and took it off.

"I don't have anything on m—" Then I heard a tinking sound as a small metal object hit the floor.

I froze.

"What was that?" I asked as I stood frozen like a statue.

Optimus' optics followed the noise and proceeded to pick up the small component that had been missing for the past couple of hours.

"Apparently you did have it on you!"

I looked at the tiny component in Optimus' hands.

"It must've fallen into my hood! That's why I couldn't find it!"

"Well you don't have to worry about this anymore. Why don't you guys head off to bed and we'll deal with this in the morning?"

I yawned. "Sounds good to me."

Mel, who was sitting in Tracks' lap and using him like a recliner, suddenly leapt off him and signaled me to come over.

"Well, time for bed. Shall we be off then?"

I nodded and walked with her back to my room.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Good night!" She said as she turned and started walking back towards her quarters, which were somewhat across the hall.

It was nice that the Autobots had made quarters for unexpected human guests. And an even better plus that those beds were King size! At my Uncle's house, I slept in a twin. So this was more than adequate. I jumped in the nice, soft bed and threw the sheet over my head so I was not visible. I don't know why I do that. Just a quirk that I have.

As the lights in the halls went off for the night, two small shadows creeped around the base, unheard. Rumble stood at the edge of a dark hallway and peered over to make sure no one was coming. Then he turned to Ravage.

"Let's split up. If you find the human first, send me a signal, and we'll meet at the entrance."

Ravage confirmed with a growl, and skittered off, sniffing the doors as he went.

Rumble opened a couple of doors only to find the rooms empty. On his 5th try, he smiled as something stirred beneath the blankets in a room that was obviously occupied since there was clutter everywhere. He quietly walked in and slowly started to un-tuck the lower sheet and carefully proceeded to tie it in a knot on the top.

At that exact same moment across the hall, Ravage, who had entered a mostly empty room, sniffed out a human who was completely covered with her blanket. He too carefully un-tucked the edges of the sheets and brought them to the middle, but instead of tying them in a knot, he just held the tips of the blanket in his mouth.

Both Ravage and Rumble sent each other their signal simultaneously, notifying that they had completed their mission, and that it was now time for them to meet at the entrance. Before leaving the room he was in, Rumble did as instructed and manually activated the alarm, so the Autobots would follow them to the nearby rock quarry.

They both ran out their doors at the same time and looked at each other in shock.

"What the? There's two humans?" Rumble questioned.

With the alarm blaring, both girls were startled awake and started to struggle in their blanket prisons.

"Let's just take them both! Let Megatron worry about it! Come on!"

They bolted towards the entrance, purposely making a lot of noise as they went.

"Look! It's Rumble and Ravage!" Sunstreaker shouted as the two turned the corner of the hallway.

Tracks overhead him then suddenly felt a rush of fear. He ran towards Mel's quarters, only to see the door open and her bed empty. Then he turned to the door across the hall, it too was wide open and vacant.

"They've got the girls!" Tracks yelled.

Optimus overheard him and quickly ran towards Teletraan-1 and an eye spy cam showed the duo running towards the abandoned rock quarry.

"They're headed for the rock quarry! We got them cornered now! There's no way out of there. Autobots! Roll out!"

Optimus then transformed and all Autobots that were within earshot of his commands, followed suit and transformed right after him. They all took off for the quarry.

When Rumble and Ravage arrived at the rock quarry, they dropped their burdens and Ravage slashed openings in the sheets and their two human captives crawled out.

Melanie lifted up her head and instantly recognized her captors.

"Rumble! Ravage!" She shouted.

"That's right! Now sit down! Don't you move hostage, or I'm gonna blow your head off!"

He spat as he pointed his gun at her.

This made Mel angry. She sneered at him as she went from hands and knees, and proceeded to sit on her butt.

I immediately mimicked her actions, and then I turned my attention to the other one. The black panther was staring intently at the entrance to the rock quarry. Suddenly it turned and noticed I was looking at it. Its red eyes lit up and it snarled at me, causing me to back up even more.

The melodious rumble of car engines signified that the Autobots were almost there. We could see a cloud of dust rising with a Red Semi leading the way.

"Here they come." Rumble said to Ravage as he pointed his weapon towards us.

Optimus transformed, as did the others, then he alone approached the two kidnappers.

"Alright Rumble, you two are completely outnumbered so hand them over."

"Not until YOU hand over the missing component!"

Rumble retorted as he stood tall, undaunted by the size of the Autobot leader.

"Very well. I will give you the component in exchange for your unharmed captives."

"Yeah, yeah, hand it over!"

Optimus got down on one knee, lowered his arm to Rumble's level and slowly opened his hand, revealing the component in his palm.

"I'll take that!" Rumble snapped as he grabbed the component from his hand and back stepped towards his captives."

"Now release them!" Optimus thundered.

Rumble just grinned.

"Now why would I want to do that?"

Optimus took a step back as Rumble threw his arm around Melanie's neck and held his gun to her temple. She was scared, but did her best not to show it. Ravage followed his example and lifted his paw over me and retracted his claws, waiting for the command to strike.

Then like a guardian angel, a large hand suddenly grabs Ravage by his midsection and lifts him off the ground and away from me. It was Sideswipe! As he held Ravage in his hand, he shook his finger in front of his face and said,

"No no! Bad kitty!"

Then I turn to see Mel topple backwards into the dirt beside me as Tracks stood there majestically with a very pissed off Rumble clenched tightly in his fist.

"Mel! Camille! Run!" Tracks shouted.

We both took off in opposite directions hoping to find safety.

Megatron and Starscream, who were both standing on top of the rock quarry watching the entire ordeal, thought it was about time to intervene. Megatron made a fist and brought it up to his face.

"Those fools. It seems that if you want something done correctly, you've got to do it yourself."

Then Megatron pointed at the small human running on his left. "Grab that human, and I'll get the other. We'll make Prime surrender in exchange for their pathetic lives."

Starscream and Megatron started to slide down the gravel hill feet first into the quarry and both humans, who were slightly exhausted from running, were easily captured. Megatron then casually walked toward the Autobots as he held Mel in his left hand.

"Hold your fire! He's got Mel!" Optimus shouted as he held up his arm to stop his comrades who were just about ready to fire.

"And it looks like Starscream has Camille!" Jazz said as he pointed at the Decepticon second-in-command, as he hovered overhead.

Megatron glared at Optimus.

"Prime, your concern for these flesh creatures has made you weak."

He brought Mel into clear viewing range of all the Autobots.

"I'm going to crush this pathetic human with my bare hands if you Autobots don't surrender immediately!"

Tracks and Sideswipe who are the closest to the standoff, watch in terror.

Megatron uses his advantage and demands the release of his minions.

"You will release Rumble and Ravage. And be quick about it!"

Sideswipe and Tracks reluctantly let their captives go. Once their feet hit the ground the immediately skittered up the quarry slope, transformed into cassettes and slid into the open tape deck chest of Soundwave, who had just arrived there with a host of Decepticons, in an attempt to even the odds.

As I floated in the sky in Starscream's grasp, I could see and hear what was happening below. Once Megatron made his threat, I knew the Autobots were too virtuous to put lives in danger. I didn't want them to surrender because of us so I looked around for something that could save us, all of us, then if occurred to me! I knew what to do, but it would be risky. I slowly turned towards Starscream's face to see if he was looking at me, but luckily his attention was down below. I slowly reached over and quickly yanked off one of his null ray rifles off from his shoulder.

"What the--?"

Despite the fact that it was very heavy, my aim was good enough as I pelted Megatron square in his back with it, causing him temporary paralysis. He froze in his stance.

"AAAHHH!!"

Megatron had the toughest hide out of all the Decepticons. For sure he was one tough cookie, and though it was only for a few seconds, he started to come out of his paralysis. Once he got his feeling back in his sensors, he released his grasp on Mel and luckily she landed on a soft mound of dirt. She rolled down it and was lying on her back. Megatron then lifted up his foot and it cast a shadow over Mel's entire body.

"Oh no you don't!" Tracks yelled as he transformed into his vehicle mode and drove into Megatron's planted leg, causing him to topple over.

Tracks busted a U-turn and came back to pick up Mel. He swung open his door for her right in front of Megatron's large legs. Furious, he sat up, staring daggers at the Autobot.

"How dare you..."

He said as he primed his weapon at the blue Corvette inches from his feet. Since she was hurt from the fall, Mel was barely crawling halfway in his door when she turned around to look behind her. Being that close to Megatron, Tracks was pretty much a sitting duck. Megatron prepares to fire when he suddenly stops to look up at the Autobots approaching with guns at the ready. The battalion of Decepticons on the top of the quarry all begin to point their guns at the charging Autobots, waiting for their leader's next order.

"Decepticons! Retreat!"

Then just like that, they all flew off for their base, with Megatron leading the way. Starscream who was still hovering overhead, looked has his captive and smiled.

"Well I can't say its been fun, but I sure hope you can fly!"

He chuckled as he flicked me from his grasp, transformed into his jet mode and followed the fleeing Decepticons.

I could feel the wind rushing all around me, and I could see the ground approaching fast. None of the Autobots would be able to save me in time as they were all pretty far away...all except for one.

Right before I was about to hit the dirt, Sideswipe who was in vehicle mode transformed at the last possible second and made a diving catch for me. I had shut my eyes before the impact, and when I opened them, I stared into the soothing blue optics of my hero.

The other Autobots cheered and Mel, though dirty and in pain, managed to limp over to me and gave me a big hug.

"That sure was a close one! Thought we lost ya!"

Happy with my new friends, and with the outcome of the day, we all went back to Autobot headquarters. Once there, Mel and me decided to get cleaned up. Luckily the Autobot human quarters were equipped with showers! Man, it was amazing how those Autobots thought of everything. The two heroes, Sideswipe and Tracks were covered in dust from the quarry, and Mel and I decided to reward the boys with a nice car wash. We hosed them down and started to dry them with towels. Sideswipe was fine, but I noticed that as Melanie dried Tracks, he would flinch whenever he was wiped on his hood.

"What's wrong with Tracks? Doesn't he liked to be washed?" I asked.

Mel turned towards me. "Of course he does! He's just ticklish on his hood."

"Oh no, please. Don't tell her that." Tracks mumbled under his breath.

"Really? Let me see…" I approached him with an evil grin.

"No…please! Stop! I can't stand it!" Tracks screamed.

He was pretty much trapped in his vehicle mode as the girls crawled all over his frame, which caused him shake violently. When the girls halted their tickling from laughing so hard, and were finally far enough away, Tracks transformed to robot mode, got down on one knee and quickly covered his hood. Sunstreaker, who was always one for revenge, thought it would be a good idea to help the girls out on their little tickle mission. He threw his arm around Tracks' neck. Tracks recoiled by bringing both if his arms up in an attempt to pull off Sunstreakers'.

"Hey! What are you doing? Who's side are you on?" Tracks questioned.

"Theirs obviously!" He answered with a mischievous smile as he quickly swung his other arm around, locking Tracks' arms in place above his head. Making his hood a clean target for the girls.

"Okay, let him have it!" He said as he struggled to hold Tracks still.

"Oh yeah! Hold him Sunny!" Mel yelled and she turned around and ran to the nearby utility closet. When she ran out, she was holding a sweeper with a long rectangular face with soft bristles on it.

"Oh Primus…" Tracks' voice was heavy with worry.

Once she started to frantically rub Tracks' hood with the sweeper, he exploded in laughter.

"Mel! Meeeeel! Stop! Please! I can't take it anymore!" He pleaded.

But she showed no mercy. I watched the whole ordeal and was starting to feel for Tracks. I myself have had tickle fights with my brother when I was younger, and sometimes they would get so extreme, I would almost cry or pee in my pants! Luckily that never happened, but even though Tracks couldn't pee, I'm sure the feeling of being tickled is just as unbearable for us, as it is for them.

So when Mel took a break from tickling and was backing away from him but still laughing hysterically, I grabbed the large wheeled laundry basket that was filled with the damp towels we used to dry the boys and rolled it in her direction. Totally unaware, it came up from behind her, knocked her off her feet and she fell backwards into it. When it stopped rolling, her feet were the only thing sticking out of it.

The others, who were watching, all started to laugh. Mel then emerged from the towels with one on her head. She grabbed it and threw it aside and crossed her arms, looking a little peeved.

"Alright. Who did it?"

She turned around, only to see me standing a couple of feet away. I quickly pointed to the next closest mech, who just happened to be an unsuspecting Ironhide. Luckily he didn't see me point at him, but in the next second, Mel leapt from the basket, grabbed the sweeper, and made a beeline for Ironhide. Finally noticing her approach, Ironhide's optics widened and he started to back up.

"Whoa! wait! It wasn't me!"

But at the speed she was running, she was almost at his feet. He quickly turned and ran in the opposite direction.

Optimus chuckled wholeheartedly at the adorable scene and looked on.

Well, there you have it! Please feel free to read and review. I hope you liked the extended ending Trackster! I did it for you!


	2. Chapter 2

Per Trackster's special request for another chapter, I was able to do so and I hope that she enjoys it. This is for you buddy!

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**A Foreshadowing Of Things To Come**

About a week after the events that took place on the Autobot base, everything went back to business as usual for the Autobots. In that short time, Melanie and Camille had become close friends. Not only that, but Camille had decided to sell her apartment, and soon moved in with Melanie and the Autobots.

For a time, things were going smoothly. For weeks now, there were no reports of any Decepticon activity. This caused Optimus Prime to worry. He decided to call a meeting the very next morning to inform the Autobots of the disturbing news and to remind them all to stay alert.

Strangely that morning, the girls decided to be mischievous and planned to prank a couple of the Autobots while they were still in recharge. They slinked up and down the corridors toward the doors of their intended, unsuspecting targets like ninjas. Which made perfect sense since they used empty pillowcases to wrap up their faces so only their eyes were showing, just in case their victims woke up, they wouldn't know which of the girls pulled the prank. Once their labors were completed, they both ran back to their quarters. Melanie activated her intercom to Camille's room and they chit chatted leisurely through their secure airwaves.

"So who did you get?" Mel asked, slightly out of breath from running back to her room.

"I'm not gonna say, It's a secret! And who says its even one Autobot!" She replied with a giggle.

"Oooooh you're bad." Melanie replied with a wicked grin.

"Let's get back to bed, might as well squeeze some sleep into those last 20 minutes before Optimus wakes us all up on the loudspeaker."

"True. Good night then." Melanie said through a yawn, and severed the communication.

When Optimus' voice erupted on the loudspeaker, Melanie and Camille jumped out of their beds, already dressed, and walked out into the hall towards each other with big smiles on their faces.

"Ready for the fireworks?" Mel asked as she swung her arm around Camille's arm.

"You betcha!" She replied. Then they both skipped down the hallway just like the characters in the Wizard of Oz.

Once they reached the main assembly hall, they climbed onto Teletraan-1's console and watched as the base's inhabitants sleepily strolled in and filled up the room. Just as they had hoped, their potential targets were right smack in the middle of the room, perfect viewing distance for the entire base to see. Once they were all inside, Optimus emerged next to the girls in front of Teletraan-1. He was holding a large data pad with notes and topics he planned to discuss and was about to start his speech when he noticed some red marks on Ironhide's chest.

"Ironhide, what's that red writing on your chest?"

Sideswipe overheard Prime over the voices of the chattering Autobots, and turned towards Ironhide and read the words out loud.

"I LOVE RATCHET?! Haha! Geez Ironhide, I didn't know you played for both teams!" He taunted.

"What the--?" Ironhide looked down, but could only see the words upside down at his angle.

Ratchet heard his name and walked over to Ironhide, only to see his name plastered on his chest with little hearts around it. Ratchet made a gruesome face.

"You think that's funny?" He bellowed as he made a fist and brought it up to Ironhide's.

"I didn't write this!" Ironhide said as he put his hands up to protect himself should Ratchet throw a blow.

"I've been had." Ironhide accused, starting to look around at all the laughing faces. His first culprits for a prank like this would be the twins. He glared viciously in their direction. Yes, they were both laughing, but after careful scrutiny, Ironhide noticed the same writing on both their body chassis, only it was written in white. Ironhide smiled.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who got visited by the prank fairy last night!" He said as pointed to their chests.

They both stopped laughing and looked down to notice the phrase, "I'm with stupid" and an arrow written on both their chests. Camille held back a laugh as she whispered to Melanie.

"See? I told you Sunny always stands to Sideswipe's left! The arrows are pointing right at each other! PERFECT!!"

The entire base was now bursting with laughter. The two most mischievous mechs on the base, done in by some new practical joker...or jokers. Camille and Melanie continued to hold back their laughs by putting their heads down. Their long hair draped over their faces. Helping them hide their guilt. Optimus heard their vain attempts to keep themselves quiet, but by their body language alone, he knew it was them. It was obvious that the red writing on Ironhide was done in lipstick, and that it was definitely them, since they were the only females on the base. The white writing was clearly one of those markers humans used to write their address numbers on their trashcans so they can identify them. He let out a big sigh, smiled from behind his mask, and tried to get the other's attention to continue the meeting.

"Alright, that's enough Autobots. Let's get back to the meeting."

Soon all the Autobot's laughter stopped and they all straightened up and stood at attention. Noticing that all optics were now watching him, Optimus stood tall and pushed his shoulders back and stuck is chest out.

"As you all must have noticed by now, there hasn't been any Decepticon activity for a while now. We need to find out why. I want a small team of you to get out there and get me some information. Hound, Tracks, Sideswipe, Bumblebee. You four should make for a well-rounded team."

Suddenly Sunstreaker straightened up and was pointing a finger in the air, in an attempt to get Optimus' attention.

"Whoa there! Just a second. You're separating us?"

"Just goes to show you who's the better sibling." Sideswipe cockily replied as he pretended to run his fingers through his non-existent hair.

"You fragger! I'll show you!"

Sunstreaker dove for his brother, tackling him to the floor.

"That's enough you two! If you're going to be a danger to the mission, then maybe it's best that neither of you go." Optimus thundered.

They froze like statues. "No! We'll be good! Won't we bro?" Sunstreaker answered nervously.

Sideswipe attempted to nod but couldn't effectively because Sunstreaker still had him in a headlock.

"Alright. Autobots! Transform!" Optimus shouted.

"Wait! We wanna go too!" Melanie stood up, tapping Optimus on the arm. Camille also stood up and looked up at him with pleading eyes.

Optimus looked down at the girls and paused for a moment, considering the consequences. He sighed.

"This is against my better judgment, but alright. I'll assign you each to an Autobot and no matter what happens, STAY TOGETHER. Melanie, I want you to go with Tracks. "

"10-4 Optimus!" She said happily skipping over to him.

"Camille, you go with Hound."

"Alright! I get the convertible! Ha ha! Can't wait to feel the wind blowing through my hair!" She shouted jubilantly as she jumped in the jeep without even opening the door.

"Yeah? Well have fun trying to comb your hair out after the wind messes it up, I on the other hand wanna look fabulous when we find those Decepticons!" Melanie playfully teased flicking her hair like a supermodel right before getting into Tracks' passenger seat.

"Now that's a girl after my own heart!" Tracks proudly announced.

"Come on guys! We got a schedule to stick to! Let's move out!" Bumblebee shouted then transformed.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe followed his lead and the group sped down the hallways and out of the Ark, on route to their first destination, the Decepticons abandoned space bridge.

Once they arrived at the top of the plateau, they inspected the deserted dry riverbed. The space bridge was still there, but some sections of the track were missing and some if the outer panels had fallen off. Sunstreaker leaned in closer as if something caught his eye.

"I think the instruments down there are still functional."

"What? That's impossible. We better go down and see." Sideswipe answered and then transformed and drove down the steep incline.

The others followed. Once they were all at the base of the canyon, laser fire erupted from behind them.

"It's Starscream! Head for the space bridge! We gotta use those walls for cover otherwise we're sitting ducks!" Hound shouted as he started to veer towards the dilapidated runway of the space bridge.

Once they were all safely inside, they transformed and drew their weapons, all except Tracks.

Hound turned to Camille and said, "You might get hurt out here so go join Melanie. Tracks will keep you both save while we think of a plan to get out of here."

Starscream, who was far enough away that he could easily dodge any shot the Autobots fired, patiently waited for his accomplice to execute his orders. Suddenly a purple blur appeared right before the space bridge console. It was Skywarp. He laughed maliciously before activating the supposedly dormant space bridge and watched as the Autobots and their human companions were sucked into the vortex. He brought his wrist to his chin and contacted Cybertron.

"Skywarp to Shockwave. You're about to get your first customers!"

* * *

Millions of miles away on Cybertron, Shockwave had just received the transmission from Skywarp and walked toward the doors of the space bridge. When the Autobots arrived, the doors opened and they all came tumbling out on top of each other. They looked up to see the large purple Decepticon standing at the entrance with his gun drawn.

"Welcome Autobot slaves. If you would be so kind as to follow me to the brig."

They nervously rose to their feet as the single robotic eye watched them intently. Tracks let out Camille and Melanie, transformed, then got to his feet. They all walked down the long corridor till they got to the halls of the prison cells. He put them each in different cells in different halls, most likely so they couldn't plan an escape. Melanie remained with Tracks, unaware that Camille had managed to separate herself from the group, thanks to the distraction of Hound's hologram that made her look as if she was still walking with them. Shockwave put the last Autobot in a holding cell, along with his human companion. Once the force field was up, he turned to them and spoke.

"Megatron has granted me permission to run experiments on any prisoners. I think your fleshling pet will be the first."

Tracks rushed the force field stopping his face inches from it and yelled,

"You will do nothing of the sort! If you so much as lay a finger on her, I'll rip you apart!" His chest was heaving in anger and Melanie could see that Tracks was dead serious with his threat.

Shockwave stared at him for a moment longer, then turned and walked away. Tracks then slowly walked backwards till his back hit the wall of the cell, then slowly slid down till his aft hit the floor.

Melanie quietly approached him and crawled onto his lap.

"Don't worry Tracks, we'll figure a way out of here before he comes back." She said as she continued crawling towards his face.

"I don't know Kiddo, I can't see any way out of this one." Tracks responded in a serious tone. Melanie looked up at him, and then sadly looked at the floor.

"Well…if this truly is our end…" She began, then lifted her head up to meet his optics, "…then I'm glad I'm spending my last moments with you." She said with a smile.

Tracks smiled back and used a finger to poke her midsection. She lurched her stomach backwards with a giggle and smiled. She then retaliated by wiggling her finger over his hood. He chuckled. They both knew exactly where this was going. Again they fought to reach each other's more vulnerable spots. Before they knew it, their laughs were echoing throughout the halls. As they tortured each other with unbearable tickles, they simultaneously came to a stop. Tracks looked into the eyes of the human sitting on his chest, and she responded by looking right back at him.

"I'm so glad you came into my life, Tracks." She said with tears in her eyes.

"Me too Kiddo. Me too." He said pulling her body close to his face as he nuzzled his frightened little friend.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shockwave returned to the command center and opened up a channel to Teletraan-1. When Optimus Prime's face appeared on the monitor, Shockwave happily informed him of his captives.

"Greetings Prime. I just thought I'd let you know that 5 of your fellow Autobots as well as two flesh creatures have been captured, and are now here on Cybertron awaiting destruction."

Prime's optics widened in shock.

"Its a shame you won't be able to save them. But If you like, I could send you their scrap remains as a consolation."

Upon those last words, Shockwave abruptly ended transmission. Prime was in total disbelief. How could this have happened? He thought to himself.

"I shouldn't have let the girls go." He spoke softly. "Now they might never come back."

Optimus solemnly spoke over the loudspeaker and informed all Autobots to assemble in the main hall. Within a few minutes the hall was filled with Autobots. As they all stood around waiting for their leader to speak, many of them had looks of uncertainty on their faceplates after hearing the tone in Optimus' voice.

"Autobots, listen up. I've just received word that our reconnaissance team has been captured. They're being held prisoner on Cybertron."

Several Autobots gasped in shock.

"Since we have no means of transportation, and all communications with them have been lost, there's a high probability we may never see them again. Now I know this looks bad, but we mustn't lose hope." Optimus turned towards his scientist. "Perceptor, can you find out exactly where they departed for Cybertron?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I can." he answered as he punched buttons on Teletraan-1's console. "According to Teletraan-1, it appears they were sent to Cybertron by means of a supposedly non-functional space bridge, located just beyond the outskirts of the base. In an dry, abandoned riverbed."

Optimus' spirits rose slightly as he brought his hand to his facemask.

"Hmmm…If that space bridge was functional, then it might still work to get them back. But without communication, there's no way to know when they will be coming through, that's to say if they even manage to escape."

"Don't talk like that Prime!" Ironhide shouted. "I know the girls will be fine. You left them in good hands. And if anything, why don't a few of us go stake out the space bridge and wait for their return? Heck, we'll wait all day and night if I have to!"

Optimus smiled. "Very well old friend. I put you in charge of this mission."

"10-4 Prime. Hey Jazz! Mirage! Get off your lazy afts! Get over here and let's go! You too Cliffjumper!" Without saying a word, the chosen Autobots transformed and rolled single file out of the base towards the direction of the abandoned space bridge.

* * *

Back on Cybertron, Camille was alone, slinking against the cold walls of Shockwave's tower, desperately trying to find the holding cells of her fellow Autobots. The place was huge! It was so eerie, quiet and cold, it gave her a weird feeling in her stomach. Suddenly she heard Melanie's faint giggles in the distance. She followed them till they stopped. Drat! There went her only lead to find them! Then she heard a grunt from one of the rooms in the hallway to her right.

"Hey stop it!"

"You stop it! You started it!"

She smiled; she knew exactly whom the voices belonged to. She ran in to see the twins Sunstreaker and Sideswipe throwing loose screws bolts across the room at each other through the bars of their holding cells.

"Guys! It's me!" I whispered as loud as I could.

They both turned towards her with big matching smiles on their faces.

"Whoa! How'd you get out?" Sunstreaker said aloud.

"Shhhhh!! Let's just call it magic, shall we?" She smiled as she jumped to reach the unlocking mechanism for the cell doors.

With one swat, the electric force field was gone and they quickly ran out, Sideswipe stopping for a moment to scoop her up while Sunstreaker ran ahead to search other hallways for their other captured friends.

Once Hound and Bumblebee were released, all that was left was to find Melanie and Tracks. As the 5 of them turned the last corner and down the last hallway, they heard the faint sound of snoring. They peeked their heads into the cell to see the Tracks laying spread eagle on the floor with Melanie sprawled out upon his chest, both engaged in a peaceful nap.

"Awww how cute!" Sunstreaker said clasping his hands under his chin.

Tracks started to stir as Bumblebee de-activated the force field on their cell.

"What in the world? Am I dreaming?" Tracks stared groggily at his friends.

"Nope! It's really us! Now get your aft off the floor and let's get out of here!"

Tracks then used both his hands and carefully removed the still napping Melanie from his chest. He then held her to the corner of his neck like a kitten and proceeded to run and catch up with the others. Once they were all together, they frantically searched for the location of the command bridge. They had to find the space bridge that would take them back to Earth.

Meanwhile, Shockwave was preparing his medical tools for the dissection of his first victim. Once all was ready, he stalked down the hallway, turned the corner towards the cell of his victim and stopped in his tracks in the doorway of the cell block at the sight of the empty cell Melanie and Tracks were in just minutes earlier. He then made a fist and brought it up to his face, and started to shake it violently. Then he used that same hand and bashed the alarm console to his right making the alarm blare throughout the tower. He then opened a communication.

"Attention all drones. The Autobot prisoners have escaped. Do not, I repeat, do not allow them to reach the command bridge!"

He then turned and started to jog towards the command bridge. As the Autobots continued to run through the halls in search of the room with the space bridge, the alarm started to blare, jolting Melanie out of her napping state.

"Yaaaahhhh! What is that?!" She shrieked as she covered her ears with her hands.

Tracks brought Melanie away from his shoulder so he could speak to her. "Shockwave must've alerted all his drones of our escape!"

"Our escape?"

Melanie looked around and saw the other Autobots running in front of her. She even noticed Camille hanging onto Hound's shoulder mounted missile, her legs dangling behind her, as she held on for dear life.

"We gotta find that space bridge. It's our only ticket outta here! Let's try that room." Sideswipe said as he skidded to a stop in front of a rather large closed door.

He hit the keypad to open the door and when the doors slid open, they walked in and were relieved to have finally found the command center, and the space bridge that had brought them there. Unfortunately, at that exact moment, Shockwave came walking in through the other door on the opposite side of the room.

"Oh shoot! Look out!" Sideswipe shouted as he pulled out his blaster and started firing in Shockwave's direction.

Shockwave immediately raised his gun arm towards the Autobots but before he could fire, one of Sideswipe's shot nailed him directly in the chest, causing him to fall back through the doorway into the previous hall. Bumblebee then took his blaster and shot the keypad on the door, activating the emergency lock. Shockwave got to his feet right before the doors slowly closed shut in front of him.

"Hurry! Everybody inside! It won't take him long to override the emergency lock." Tracks shouted as he signaled everyone into the space bridge with his free hand.

"Wait! Someone has to activate it once we're all inside!" Sunstreaker said as he pointed to the space bridge's console.

"And I doubt Shockwave will do it for us, even if we asked politely."

"I've got an idea." Hound said with a smirk.

Once Shockwave managed to undo the lock, he ran in to see that only one Autobot remained. Hound stood completely still with his hand right over the activation switch for the space bridge, which was a large flat gray square.

"Don't touch that!" He shouted and then ran towards him in an attempt to pull his wrist away from the console.

Only when he reached for it, His hand went right through Hound's, accidentally hitting the button beneath, activating the space bridge! Shocked at the sound of the space bridge being activated, he looked up at Hound's Hologram just as it smiled and waved goodbye to him. The image became fuzzy, and then disappeared. "No!" Shockwave shouted as he slammed his fist on the console.

* * *

Back on Earth, it was almost sunset; Ironhide and his team were still at the bottom of the dry riverbed, waiting for the space bridge to activate signaling the return of their captive friends.

When the last of the sun's rays disappeared from the canyon floor, Mirage walked over to where Ironhide was sitting and put his hand on his shoulder.

"I think we should head back to the base. If it's been this long, maybe they weren't able to—"

"How can ya say that Mirage?! Ironhide cut him off mid-sentence. "They're gonna make it! I know it! I feel it deep down in my spark!"

The other Autobots overheard the conversation and looked at each other with despair in their optics. Cliffjumper looked up into the evening sky, hoping to see the purple vortex appear in the sky above the space bridge, and then suddenly, it did!

"Look!" Cliffjumper shouted as he pointed towards the sky.

There was a loud crash, then a rumble as the vortex appeared. It dumped its contents, and once the vortex disappeared, the doors of the space bridge opened and 5 very happy Autobots came out.

"They made it! I told you guys they would!" Ironhide exclaimed as he went to greet the others.

The spirits of the others instantly rose as they were relieved to know their fellow Autobots made it back safely.

"How'd you escape?" Mirage asked.

"Yeah, how did we escape?" Melanie asked turning to Camille. She returned her glance with a big smile on her face and then looked up at Hound.

"I think I better answer this one." Hound said as he raised his hand to speak. "When we reached Cybertron, Shockwave was there to greet us, and escort all of us to the brig. Well, when he wasn't looking I made a hologram of Camille to make him think that she was still walking with us. I whispered to her to hide and to find us once the coast was clear. Just as I had hoped, she was able to find us and spring us. Luckily, we were able to find the space bridge that brought us here and used it to return to Earth!"

"Ironhide! Report! What's going on down there?" Optimus called through Ironhide's communicator.

"Prime! They're back! They made it! They're alright!" Ironhide happily answered.

"That's great news! All of you report back to the base immediately. I'll see you when you get here. Prime out."

"Alright you heard the mech! Autobots! Let's roll for home!"

And with that, all the Autobots transformed and rolled for their base.

Once they all returned and everything was back to normal, it was late and soon everyone had turned in for the night. Melanie, who couldn't sleep, was sitting on the edge of her bed in her pajamas. After a brief moment, she got up and went down the hall to see Tracks. She entered his room, and looked up at him. He was leaning back on his recharge berth looking at his reflection from one of his recently polished arm panels.

"What's up kiddo, can't sleep?" He brought his arm down as he noticed her come in.

"Well actually, I've been thinking. "

"About what?"

"About what could have happened to me on Cybertron. I could only imagine how you would feel if Shockwave was to… or even if something else was to happen to me, I…I…"

"Shhh…its okay Mel. I'll always be here to protect you. From anything and anyone!"

She smiled. "Thanks Tracks."

"Now come on up here." He said as he tapped the empty space next to him on his recharge berth with his hand.

"You know, my recharge berth can get to be a very lonely place sometimes!"

She smiled then jumped up and curled up beside him. He pulled a blanket from behind him and covered her with it.

"Good night Tracks." She said through closed eyes with a big smile on her face.

"Good night Mel."

Then the two drifted off into a deep, well deserved sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

A Dire Situation

Well I finally had some time to write another chapter and here it is. For Trackster, of course!

**A Dire Situation**

Megatron impatiently paced across the command bridge. His thoughts fixed on one thing: the destruction of his rivals' two human companions. As unbelievable as it may seem, these two females have evaded capture from his Decepticon forces...twice! This made Megatron consider other options. He pressed down a button and opened a secure channel.

"Shrapnel! Bombshell! Kickback! Report to Decepticon headquarters immediately!"

As soon as he severed transmission, Starscream strode through the doors of the command bridge. When he eyed Megatron, a smile started to slink across his face. He knew something was up the moment he walked in. Megatron never paced like that unless he was dead set on destroying something to the extreme. Starscream walked up to him.

"I've seen that look before. What are you planning Megatron?"

"I've just sent for the Insecticons. Since you fools are incapable of capturing two measly little flesh creatures, I am going to send a group that will not fail me."

Starscream's red optics opened wide.

"What?! You're gonna send those scrap-muching morons?!"

Megatron thinned his optics and frowned. He then grabbed Starscream by the throat and locked his fingers.

"How dare you question my commands!" He thundered as he lifted Starscream off the floor.

Starscream couldn't answer as Megatron's vice-like grip prevented his vocal processor from responding. Try as he might, he could not budge Megatron's hands.

Suddenly the doors opened and in came the Insecticons in their robot modes.

"You called for us Megatron? Megatron." Shrapnel asked.

Megatron turned towards his guests and dropped Starscream as he approached them.

"Ahh my fellow Insecticons! It pleases me that you arrive so quickly."

Shrapnel looked at his fellow Insecticons and back towards Megatron.

"We were…in the neighborhood—hood."

"Excellent. I have a proposition for you. In exchange for energon, I want you to collect 2 human females that currently reside at Autobot headquarters. I want you to capture them and bring them here."

"It will be done—done." Then Shrapnel and the other Insecticons transformed into their bug modes and flew out the door.

Once Starscream was able to compose himself, he got to his feet, turned to Megatron and said,

"Fine. Send those fools. But don't get mad if I get there first!"

Before Megatron could respond, Starscream transformed to his jet mode and rocketed out through the door at the opposite end of the room.

Megatron was angry, but at the same time, surprised. He knew Starscream had left quickly on purpose so he wouldn't have had enough time to order him not to interfere with the Insecticons and his plan. Though obnoxious, Starscream was still loyal, but his reckless determination to prove himself to his leader, actually made Megatron smile slightly. He decided not to contact him via comm-link to return. He'd rather sit back, relax and see what plan his second-in-command would come up with. He probably turned off his communicator anyway.

Back at Autobot HQ, the girls were enjoying their lunch.

"Gosh I LOVE breakfast for lunch! Can we do this everyday?" Camille asked Wheeljack as he nervously used careful precision to flip microscopic pancakes for Camille on a very small pan on a very small stove."

"I uh—" He began.

"No! Melanie interjected. "Lunch is meant for lunch only!" She continued, not really agreeing with Camille's philosophy on food. She couldn't contest it today though, since it was Camille's choice for lunch today. She would have hers, but not until tomorrow.

"Don't tell me you've never tried steak and eggs at dinnertime either?" Camille looked at her in surprise.

"For your information, no, I have not." She said as she crossed her arms.

"Awww than you've never lived! You have no idea what you're missing Mel!" She said as she playfully poked her fork in Mel's side.

"Well I'm sorry if I prefer to do things the normal way." She retorted.

Optimus, who was sitting down nearby, suddenly got to his feet.

"Alright. That's enough you two. Just refuel and meet me down at the ammunition bunker when you're done."

"It's not refueling, it's called eating!" Camille answered in a smart-ass kind of way, but then ending with an apologetic smile as he turned towards her.

"Enough lip!" Optimus playfully replied. "You girls have work to do today. If you're going to continue to live here, you're gonna have to help clean up around here too."

"Bummer." I said out of the corner of my mouth to Melanie.

"Tell me about it." She replied aloud.

"What was that?" Optimus snapped since Mel's reply was clearly audible.

The girls froze. Camille quickly shoved a forkful of pancake into her mouth and replied,

"Muffing! Me'll mee yu bown bere." The pancake muffled her words.

"What?" Optimus couldn't compute her reply.

She swallowed. "Nothing! Nothing. Well meet you down there!"

He thinned his optics and raised his brow plate before turning back down the hall towards the ammunition bunker. He knew the girls weren't too into being tidy. Both of their rooms looked like the Decepticons threw a party in there. But he decided to put it out of mind, for the moment, and continued to walk down the corridor.

"You know what?" Camille thought, as she continued to shovel syrup-drenched pancakes down her face.

"What?" Mel asked as she took another spoonful of her cereal.

"The Autobots have done a hell of a job protecting us. I think a little spring cleaning in return wouldn't hurt, you know?"

"Yeah, you're right. But before we go down there, there's something I must do." She turned towards her and winked.

"Oh man, not again. Tracks aint gonna like this…" She told herself aloud as Mel took her last spoonful of her cereal and ran towards his room.

Tracks lay sleeping on his berth with one leg bent, and one leg straight. His left arm holding his head up, while his other dangled off the edge of his berth.

Melanie quietly entered his room and crept towards his berth. She climbed up, stood on the edge of it, and yelled at the top of her lungs: "TICKLEPOUNCE!"

Tracks' optics came online but it was too late. She had gotten him good this time. She velcro'ed herself to his hood and went to town on him. He laughed and struggled but didn't want to hurt Mel, so he just took the torture and laughed all the while. Suddenly she stopped and ran out the door, she returned seconds later with the same broom she used to tickle him a while back.

She walked towards him with an evil smile, broom in hand. Tracks put his hands up in an attempt to calm her down but something else did the work for him.

"MELANIE! CAMILLE! If you two aren't down here in the next 2 minutes…" Optimus' voice boomed on the intercom.

She froze. Tracks relaxed. "You better get going kiddo, oh and you might wanna take that broom with you, I'm sure you're gonna need it for the work you're gonna do." He answered with a smile as he fearlessly leaned back on his berth with his arms behind his head, exposing his hood.

Melanie then bolted from the room with the broom in hand.

Camille was now running towards the ammunition bunker also, while Melanie did her best to catch up to her. They ran through the door at exactly the same time, panting. Optimus' towering frame loomed over them both.

"Alright you two, get to work. I will be back later today to see how you're doing. And no fooling around!"

When Optimus left, Camille located a broom of her own and the girls proceeded to sweep the ammunition bunker. They easily reached the tiny corners and areas that the Autobots couldn't. Then about an hour later, Camille stopped for a moment and wiped her brow.

"Piece o cake." She said as she stood proudly in front of one now dust-free corner.

"Three more corners to go." Mel stated as she continued sweeping behind her.

Suddenly there was a small rumble and a few rocks were jarred loose from the rock wall, littering the floor with dust and gravel.

"What the heck? I just swept that!" Camille roared in anger.

The rumble happened again and then the rocks started to cave in slightly and in burrowed 3 Insecticons!

"Oh shoot!" Melanie exclaimed, now holding her broom like a weapon.

Kickback leapt toward her, grabbing the bristle end of her broom in his mouth and started to chew it.

"Whoa! What are those things?" Camille asked now standing in the same stance Melanie was in.

Melanie let go of the broom as the Insecticon finished eating the end she was just holding on to.

"They're Insecticons. We can't let them enter the base! They'll rip the place to shreds!"

Melanie moved away from the door, and noticed the Insecticons followed her movement.

"I think they're just after us, which means we gotta lead them back out through that hole! Come on!" Mel shouted. The girls then separated, ran around the invaders and out the cave hole.

The Insecticons followed. Once outside the cave, the girls ran out onto the backside of the volcano and used nearby rock crevices to hide between. It was only a matter of time before the Insecticons smelled them out.

"Oh man, we need help, and we need it now!" Camille said worriedly.

Optimus, along with the twins and Tracks were walking towards the ammunition bunker to check on the girl's progress. All the while, Sunstreaker boasted about a recent recon mission that Optimus had sent them on.

"And I would have had a clear shot too if Sides hadn't been in my way!"

"Whatever bro, don't blame ME for that, YOU were too busy checking yourself in your rear view mirrors the whole time, so I took the shot!"

"And you missed!"

Tracks snorted. "I'm so glad I don't have a brother. If I had to fight over who was the better-looking one and whatnot, I don't think I'd be able to stand it!"

Optimus approached the door and opened it.

"Melanie? Camille?" He walked in and noticed dirt on the floor and the gaping hole at the back of the room.

"They're gone! And look…" Optimus pointed to insect-like scratchmarks on the floor.

"Insecticons."

"Prime! We gotta find them!" Tracks said his voice full of worry.

Then the four of them heard some laser blasts coming from outside, along with the sound of two girls screaming.

Optimus immediately got on his hands and knees ready to crawl through the hole, but it was just too small.

"Argh…I can't fit!"

"But we can!" Sunny and Sides shouted as they transformed into their car modes and easily slipped through.

"I'll rally the others and meet you on the other side!" Prime shouted as he ran out of the room. "Come on Tracks, let's go around!"

Tracks wanted to follow the twins, but he feared for his recent wax job. He only hesitated a moment then immediately thought about Mel out there defenseless against the Insecticons. He transformed and floored it after the twins. Once they were all outside, the Insecticons were closing in on the girls in their dead-end rock crevice.

"Hold it right there Decepti-scum!" Sides yelled as he pointed his gun towards the Insecticon that was closest to Camille.

"Back off Shrapnel." Tracks threatened as he pointed his gun towards the Insecticon that was closest to Melanie.

Sunstreaker, who stood in the middle, pointed his blaster at Bombshell, who was directly in the middle.

Suddenly, a null ray blast hits Tracks square in his back. "Aahhh!!" He shrieks as his entire body goes immobile and he falls forward.

"Starscream!" Sideswipe shouts then turns his head to look behind him, as does Sunstreaker.

The Insecticons take advantage of the diversion and transform into their robot modes, pull out their weapons and blast the two brothers. Sunstreaker was only grazed by a shot, but Sideswipe took one right in the chest, causing him to fall backwards.

"NO! Sideswipe!" Camille yelled running out from her hiding place. She raced right past Kickback towards her downed guardian.

"Tracks!" Mel shouted as she reached Tracks' downed body. She had already left her hiding place and was besides Track's immobilized body before Camille had even run out of hers.

Sunstreaker, who was still pretty much okay, ducked behind some rocks and exchanged laser fire with the Insecticons, in hopes of keeping them busy until Prime showed up with the others.

"Mel…you have to get out of here..." He told her, his voice rasped from being hit by the blast.

"NO! I'm not leaving you!" She protested.

"GO! For once in your life, follow orders! Unh!" He grunted as he tried to move again, with no luck.

She slowly turned towards Starscream, angrily staring daggers at the seeker's back as he approached Camille and Sideswipe.

"Sideswipe! Get up!" Camille yelled as she stood beside him, constantly looking back at the approaching Starscream. "GET UP!"

"I…I can't…" Sideswipe responded.

He struggled, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get up. She then crouched behind his arm so Starscream wouldn't see her.

Once Starscream's shadow overtook him, Sideswipe thinned his optics at him.

"What are you doing here Starscream? What do you want?"

"I came for the humans. Give them to me or be vaporized."

Sideswipe didn't reply. He just continued to stare at him.

"Very well, if you won't talk, I'll vaporize you anyway and continue my search." He said as he prepared to fire.

Once Camille heard this, she made herself visible by jumping onto Sideswipe's chest flailing her arms about.

"Starscream wait! Please don't kill him!" She pleaded.

"Now why would I obey the commands of a puny flesh creature?"

"Please! I'll do anything!" She said as she fell to her knees.

"Fine. Surrender and I'll spare this pathetic Autobot." He said with a smirk.

She felt her breath leave her. But she knew she had to comply to save him. She slowly stood up, put both arms at her side, closed her eyes as a tear fell, and tilted her head back.

"Take me then." She spoke defiantly.

"Camille! NO!" Sideswipe yelled as Starscream's hands closed around the delicate female.

He squeezed her a little more tightly on purpose so she would make a whimpering sound as if she was in pain, just to add to Sideswipe's agony.

"Aaahh!" She yelped.

Starscream started to laugh as he turned and walked away to look for Melanie.

"No! Wait! Please!" Sideswipe pleaded as he tried like crazy to get to his feet.

"Now where's that other human?" Starscream wondered.

He had only taken a few steps when he noticed Melanie standing on the ground in front of him with her arms crossed.

"Hmm…that was easy." Starscream said aloud as he reached for her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She told him, her voice full of venom.

He stopped. "You flesh creatures are so stupid! What makes you think I'll listen to you? You're inferior. You're literally NOTHING compared to us!"

She stuck her hand into her back pocket.

"Well, we may be small in size, but we aren't in the brain department!"

Fed up with her petty words, his hand again came close, and just before he closed his fingers around her, she pulled out the item that was in her back pocket and stabbed the center of Starscream's hand with her police tazer with the juice on full power, shocking him enough to loosen his grip. Camille received some of the shock, and when she fell from Starscream's hand, Melanie did her best to try and catch her, but she was too heavy and her weight ended up knocking Mel to the ground.

Meanwhile, Optimus had finally arrived with a small host of Autobots, who soon aided Sunstreaker against the now fleeing Insecticons. Now that Sunstreaker was no longer hindered by the Insecticons, he could now finish his original agenda, avenging his brother.

Starscream, who finally shook off the mild electrocution, was now laughing.

"Is that it? Is that the extent of your stupid fleshling powers? A stupid tazer?"

"At least it did it's job." Mel retorted.

"And what was that? Stall the inevitable!?" He roared as he approached the two girls.

"Not exactly." She said with a smile.

"Huh?"

Starscream could hear the sound of feet rapidly approaching. Before he could turn and investigate, Sunstreaker already had him in a headlock.

"So you think you can just show up with your Insecticons and order them to blast me and my bro huh?" Sunstreaker spoke in a low, dangerous sounding voice.

Starscream often heard of the vendetta Sunstreaker had towards anyone who attacked his brother. He was legendary for it. Which made him uneasy.

"No! It was Megatron who sent them! He ordered them to kidnap the girls! I came here on my own accord!" Starscream yelled trying to save his own skin.

"To do WHAT?'' Sunstreaker shouted into his ear.

"…Kidnap the girls." He answered stupidly barely realizing he just dug himself his own grave.

"Sunstreaker! Let him go." Prime ordered.

"But Sideswipe…" Sunny started.

"He's fine. Look." He said as he pointed towards Sideswipe as he was held between the arms of Ironhide and Ratchet.

Sunstreaker reluctantly released his grip and Starscream immediately transformed and headed back toward Decepticon headquarters. Once he got back, he knew he was gonna be in deep trouble, and he knew he would be getting an earful from Megatron upon his return, and no doubt extra guard shifts.

Once Tracks, Sideswipe and Camille were all in the med bay, Ratchet worked on the more serious cases first.

"So how are they Ratchet?" Optimus asked with a tone of concern.

"Camille's knocked out and still a little buzzed from the shock but she'll be fine. Sideswipe on the other hand, took a direct hit to his equilibrium, so he wouldn't have been able to stand if his life depended on it!"

Sideswipe, who was awake, just rolled his eyes at Ratchet's analysis. Ratchet chuckled as he walked over to Tracks.

"As for Tracks, the null ray effect should be wearing off any minute now."

Melanie unwaveringly stood by Tracks' side, with a concerned look on her face. Ratchet looked down at her.

"You know you're quite the hero today, Melanie. If it wasn't for you and your quick thinking, Starscream most likely would of taken off with Camille and we might have never seen her again!"

Melanie looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks, Ratchet."

Tracks, who was aware Mel was at his side, but couldn't turn his head to see her, suddenly spoke.

"Mel, I'll be okay. You should check on Camille. I'm sure the first thing she wants to see when she wakes up is her hero."

Agreeing with him, she turned and walked over to her friend. Just as she reached her bed, Camille's eyelids started to open and a smile grew across her face.

"So you're my hero huh?" Camille asked groggily.

"You're awake? How long have you been awake? Have you been awake this whole time?" Melanie asked with a hint of annoyance in her tone.

"Yup." she smiled and then flinched in slight pain.

"I'm sorry I shocked you." Mel said as she hung her head low and looked at the floor. "But there was no other way to get him to release his grip on you!"

"It's okay. I know you only did it to save me. Thanks, Mel." She replied with a smile.

"You're welcome. Well, are you feeling better? Can you sit up?" Mel asked.

"Lemme try." Camille said as she used her arms to perk herself up.

She managed to do it, but as soon as she did, everyone in the med bay started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Camille asked, slightly puzzled.

"Its your hair! The electric shock must have made it get all poofy!" Mel answered as she tried not to laugh.

"Oh my gosh…how embarrassing!" She said as she tried to pull it down and manage it.

"I like it. Then again, you look good in any hairstyle to me!" Sideswipe nervously admitted.

"Thanks Sides." She blushed.

Melanie then turned towards the other Autobots.

"Well…the ammunition bunker still hasn't been properly cleaned, and since Kickback ate my sweeper, maybe we could just hold Camille upside down and use her as a broom?"

Camille's face turned a bright red. She suddenly flung her sheets off of her and leapt from her bed and ran barefoot after Melanie.

The Autobots continued to laugh as Melanie tore out through the doors of the med bay and down the hall, with Camille following closely behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

Here's another chapter for ya, Trackster. Hope it's comical, yet exciting!

**A Trip to the Hardware Store**

One afternoon, Melanie was in her room, going through her things. She dug through box after box of her belongings trying to locate one item in particular. She suddenly heard rather large footsteps approaching her room and she paused for a moment, and then rolled her eyes. Then she turned to face her door. The doors slid open to reveal whom the pounding feet belonged to. It was Tracks, her Autobot guardian, who was again (as on many occasions) a little too overprotective and concerned for his ward. Causing him to appear as a constant nuisance to her.

"Yes?" She grumbled lowly through her teeth, as if she didn't want to ask.

"Whatcha up to kiddo?" He asked then surveyed the room and was surprised to see an endless number of boxes littering the floor with loads of stuff messily falling out of them.

"What's going ON in here? Did you lose something?" He asked.

"For your information, no. I haven't lost anything. I'm just…looking for something I put aside a while back. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to continue looking for it in…peace." She answered stiffly, then peered into a nearby large box headfirst to dig at its bottom and resumed looking for the item.

"Why? Can't I help?"

She pulled her head out of the box rather quickly and looked up at him, slightly annoyed.

"No! I want you to get out."

"Why?!" He was persistent.

"Because it's a secret! Now shoo!"

"A secret about what?!"

"LOOK! It involves YOU okay? So you can't be in here right now!"

Tracks was puzzled. But he didn't want to anger her more so he just turned around and walked towards the door.

"Suit yourself." He replied sadly.

Just then, Camille was walking towards Melanie's room, and saw Tracks come out of it. Once the door closed shut behind him, he turned towards her and walked down the hallway, looking at the ground, slightly dragging his feet. His head was drooping so low; she could have sworn it was hanging on by a thread. She could tell instantly that he wasn't himself.

"Hey Tracks, what's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing." He fibbed. "You going to see Mel?"

"Yeah."

"Well she's kinda busy at the moment. So busy in fact, that she didn't even want me to help." He turned his head towards Melanie's door, in hopes that it would open up and she would call him back in, but it didn't.

Camille raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "Well…she called for me, so I'm sure she'll let me in!"

"Whatever you say kiddo." He answered blankly as he continued to walk past her.

Camille ran up to the door and pushed the intercom.

"Mel! It's me! Can I come in?"

"It's open!" She yelled from inside the room.

Camille entered the room and saw the boxes all over the place. It was total chaos!

"Wow. I take it you haven't found what you're looking for yet?"

Melanie then smiled when her hand reached in a box and felt a familiar rectangular object. "On the contrary…I think I just have!"

She pulled out what looked like a thick catalog and slammed it on the floor.

"This is it!" she said triumphantly as she opened it and started turning pages.

"What is that?" Camille questioned as she got on the floor to get a better look and the elusive item.

"It's a Home Depot hardware catalog. I got it in the mail months ago and didn't think I would need it, but for some reason I didn't throw it away. Now I'm glad I didn't!

"What do you need it for?" She asked.

"That's easy silly! I want to buy Tracks another sweeper! Since the Insecticons annihilated my last one, that is. It's the perfect torture device!" She continued to browse the pages, then suddenly stopped.

"Ah! Here it is! Oh that's a nice one! It looks exactly like the old one!"

She reached for her cell and called the 800 number on the catalog. Promptly someone picked up.

"Yes, I'd like to order item # 563828…" She spoke to the telephone operator.

"How many are you going to get?" Camille interrupted.

Melanie covered the mouthpiece of the phone, and then answered, "Just one. What are the chances that something bad will happen to this broom?"

Camille didn't answer. Melanie returned to her phone call.

"Yes one please." There was a long pause. "What?! You're out of stock? Can you check if a nearby store has one that we can pick up ourselves? Where? Oh, yes that's close to us. Okay. Thank you. Goodbye."

Camille anxiously awaited Melanie's next words. "Well?"

"They have some in stock at the Home Depot just off the main highway south of here. Let's go get it ourselves."

"But who's gonna drive us?"

"How bout Sideswipe?" She said with a smile.

"You…" She pointed mischievously at Mel. "You know how I think, and you know what I like don't ya?"

She snorted. "Duh! It's only obvious you're sweet on him. Let's call him!"

I blushed as she ran towards the intercom and pushed the page button.

"Sideswipe, this is Melanie. Report to my room immediately!" She commanded.

"You sound just like Megatron!" Camille joked.

"No I don't! He doesn't sound like that!" She retorted as she grabbed her wallet and shoved it into her back pocket.

Tracks, who had just returned to his room, heard Melanie's announcement on the intercom and wondered why she was calling for Sideswipe, and not for him. He decided to just turn on the TV until she needed him.

When Sideswipe arrived, he skidded to a stop in vehicle mode right in front of her door. Camille and Melanie were already standing outside.

"Yes ladies?"

"We have an urgent mission for you! You must transport us to the nearest Home Depot right away!" Melanie joked.

"Really? Why?"

"Oh don't start asking questions, just do it!" She said as she and Camille opened his doors and got in.

"Hey, you're the bosses!" He then revved his engine and floored it down the hall and out of the base.

Once they were on the main road, the Home Depot sign was barely visible in the distance. After about 7 minutes, the 3 of them arrived. But before they pulled into the parking lot, Camille stopped Sides by putting him in neutral.

"You'd better wait here Sides, I don't want people to see two 'poor girls' get out of a car that's worth thousands of dollars. It just wouldn't look right, you know?"

"Who are you calling poor?" Melanie huffed, slightly insulted. But she was ignored.

"Uh…okay." Sideswipe accepted as he opened his doors to let the girls out.

"Call me if you need me. I'll be right here."

"We will. Come on Mel!" She said as she grabbed onto the sleeve of Melanie's jacket and jogged with her towards the front entrance. She reluctantly followed.

As they walked through the front doors, Camille couldn't help but notice the six strangely painted construction vehicles that were parked precariously in a corner of the parking lot. It was as if they were out of place, I mean there wasn't any construction barricades or cones to signify that any work was being done. As she looked over her shoulder, she could have sworn a red light flickered from the purple and green colored cement truck's dashboard, but it was probably just her imagination.

The girls walked the long halls of the establishment until they found the broom aisle. Melanie gasped in awe as she lifted the last sweeper off the display rack and proceeded to dance with it.

"THIS is the one I'm looking for! It's perfect! Okay, we got what we came for, now let's get home."

"Ohhh!!! I can't wait to use it on him!" Melanie continued with a very high-pitched voice.

Once the broom was purchased, the girls strode out the door and towards the lot. When they were halfway to where Sideswipe was, the 6 construction vehicles started to transform and combined into a humongous robot! Camille watched as the giant completed its last transformation and then recognized the familiar purple brand on its chest. She screamed as its eyes locked on them. It was way bigger than a normal Decepticon!

"Side---Sideswipe…?" Camille whispered.

She couldn't bring herself to yell for him, she was just too scared.

At the nearby corner gas station, a news van was getting its tank filled up. The news reporter, who was leaning on the van, checking her make up with her compact, heard Camille's scream and signaled for her camera guy to go live. Back at Autobot headquarters, Tracks was flipping channels and dropped the remote when Devastator's image appeared on the screen.

"HOLY PRIMUS! Mel! Camille! I gotta get down there! It looks like, yes, the Home Depot off the main highway! Don't worry Mel I'm coming!!!" He raced out of his room, transformed to his vehicle mode, and once he activated his wings, he took off for the air.

"Holy crap! It's Devastator! SIDESWIIIIIIPE!!!" Melanie shouted.

In an instant, Sideswipe's tires could be heard screeching towards the parking lot, and though he knew he'd be seen by the other humans, he transformed to robot mode anyway and ran towards the towering Decepticon's midsection.

"I'm coming you guys I'll save you!" He yelled.

But Devastator was prepared for him. And with a swift kick, launched him into the air like a football. He flipped numerous times and finally landed a few blocks away. The sound he made when he hit the ground was far away, but still audible.

Camille's fear suddenly melted away and anger started to fill her heart. She looked up at the laughing Decepticon and snatched Melanie's broom from her hands.

"Hey! That's m---CAMILLE! ARE YOU CRAZY!?!" Melanie shouted as Camille walked toward the giant with the broom in hand.

"HEY! JOLLY GREEN GIANT!" She shouted.

"Hmmm?'" Devastator suddenly stopped laughing and gazed down at the enraged human girl.

"How DARE you do that to Sideswipe! You're gonna pay!"

Closing her eyes to maximize the strength of the hit, she wound her body and prepared to swing the broom at his leg, not noticing that the giant lifted his foot and placed it right above her. Melanie gasped and ran for Camille, grabbing her by the jacket and yanking her out of the way. Camille dropped the broom as the huge foot came crashing down on top of it, reducing it to splinters, instead of her.

Melanie's jaw dropped.

"MY BROOM!" She screeched as if someone ran over her puppy.

Camille, realizing what just happened, got to her feet and pulled Melanie to hers and turned to run. Only Melanie held tightly onto her sleeve, stopping her in her tracks.

"What are you doing?! We gotta run!" she shouted.

"No! We won't be able to run away! Not with his huge feet. His strides would catch up to us too easily! Let's just hide under that SUV!"

"But what if he smashes us while we're under it?"

"That's a risk we're gonna have to take! But I have a feeling, if Megatron sent them, then maybe they'll need us alive! Only one way to find out!"

Camille agreed and the girls crawled under the black Chevy Tahoe with ease. It was higher underneath than a regular car. But just as Camille had feared, Devastator approached the truck, lifting his foot once again.

"I guess I was wrong. Sorry Camille." Melanie apologized.

Just then one of the Constructicons voices erupted from its body.

"NO YOU FOOL! MEGATRON WANTS THEM ALIVE!"

"Just pick up the fragging Earth Vehicle numb nodes!" Another one chimed in.

The foot slammed down on the ground inches from the truck, causing a gust of wind to blow under the truck and mess up our hair. Then a large hand picked up the SUV with ease. The girls whimpered in fear as he threw the Truck over his shoulder like nothing. The girls then embraced each other as the giant's hand came closer to them.

Tracks, who was now flying overhead, transformed from flying car mode to robot mode, retracted his hand and shot out a cable (much like Jazz had done on many occasions) which wrapped around the giant's fingers, preventing him from grabbing the girls. He then used his weight from his decent to pull the hand away from the girls. It helped, but not a lot. Melanie and Camille looked up at their savior.

"Tracks!" Melanie shouted.

He tried to pull and still the mighty beast, but he was greeted by a low laugh from the giant and was suddenly whisked into the air as Devastator got a better grip on the cable that constricted his hand and started swinging poor Tracks around in circles above his head. As Tracks helplessly endured his 'wild ride', Devastator got down to one knee, while still swinging Tracks in the air. With his free hand, he advanced on the girls again. Camille and Melanie suddenly heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching from behind them.

Before they could turn around to see who it was, Sideswipe whipped out his blaster and nailed Devastator's free hand, causing him to grunt in pain. It wasn't much pain, but it served its purpose, distracting him long enough for him to leap over the girls, twist around and land on his back and slide through the legs of Devastator and stopping a few feet behind him. With his back wide open for attack, Sideswipe located the beacon he had to shoot that would immediately render him immobile and cause the Constructicons to disperse and fall apart.

Devastator knew of his handicap and tried to turn around, but he was too late. Sideswipe took a shot and Devastator arched his back as he yelled and fell to his knees. Tracks was still spinning in the air on the cable, but when Devastator's palms opened upon being hit by Sideswipe in the back, it got loose and he was flung in one direction, but could now transform into car mode and resume flying. Once he corrected himself, he turned and flew back to pick up the girls.

"Tracks! Boy am I glad to see you!" Melanie said as she got to her feet and opened the driver side door and got in.

Camille ran to the passenger door but threw a worried look over her shoulder for Sideswipe but couldn't see him.

"Camille! Come on! Get in!" Tracks shouted, as he opened the door himself so she would enter.

"What about Sideswipe?" She answered her own question when she saw his head pop up from behind the pile of purple and green construction vehicles that littered the parking lot.

"Oh."

"My sensors tell me he's fine! Now get in! We gotta get out of here before those constructicons come around!"

Without a second thought, she entered the car.

Now completely in pieces, the Constructicons shook their heads and tried to focus, still in a daze. Sideswipe, who was itching to take on the disoriented Decepticons now that they were more his size, held back for the sake of the girls. It wasn't in his persona to run from a fight, but if the Constructicons reconfigured, he was sure he wouldn't be able to come up with another miraculous diving save. After his common sense got the better of him, he transformed into his Ferrari mode and followed the Blue Corvette with the flames on its hood back to Autobot headquarters.

Approximately one week after the incident, Melanie finally had put the last of her things back where they belonged before she had begun searching for the catalog. With a defeated sigh, she solemnly walked towards her bed and sat on it. Still upset that broom #2 was destroyed yet again by Decepticons. Tracks was in her room, helping her with the heavy things.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you Tracks…" She began.

"Oh for Primus' sake Mel! It's okay! You've already apologized enough! I don't think I can take one more apology!"

Camille walked in Melanie's room with a long rectangular package that was almost as tall as her.

"Hey guys. So Tracks, you can't take one more apology huh? Well I got something for you that you won't be able to take period!"

"What are you talking about Camille? What's in the box?" Tracks questioned.

Sideswipe then followed Camille into Mel's room with a wide grin on his face, then he stood in front of the door as if blocking it.

Tracks gave him a strange look. "Ooookay…what's your problem?"

"You'll see." He answered bluntly.

Melanie looked up at Camille with the package in her arms.

"What's that?" She asked, a little curious.

"It's addressed to me, but it's actually for you." Camille then held out the box in her arms towards Mel.

Tracks froze when he scanned the contents of the box.

"NO---!"

Camille turned to look at the worried Autobot's face.

"Oh yes!"

Melanie took the package and ripped the top of the box off and gasped happily as she pulled out the brand new ivory colored sweeper from the box.

"Camille! What on Cybertron were you thinking?" Tracks yelled.

"Just helping a friend!" She smiled.

Melanie, her sadness gone, happily ran towards Tracks as he backed up in the corner. Melanie started to brush Tracks on his most vulnerable spot possible…his hood. Tracks laughed heartily, totally aware now why Sideswipe was babysitting the door. As the two giggled and rolled on the floor together, Camille walked towards Sideswipe and wrapped her arms affectionately around one of his legs. He froze and looked down as she embraced his leg while watching Tracks and Melanie tickle each other. He then relaxed and smiled at the small human.  It was the perfect end to a not so perfect day.


	5. Chapter 5

**Revenge: A Dish Best Served Cold**

As the summer months wound down, and the weather steadily began to become increasingly cold, Camille decided it was time for a new wardrobe. As she browsed through the many pairs of pants she owned, she noticed that a large percentage of them were Capri's, the kind that stop at about the knee. This wouldn't do. Plus with the location of Autobot headquarters being in the mountains, she was sure snowfall would be unavoidable. But she wasn't planning on going shopping alone, so she packed her purse and strode down the hall to Melanie's room.

Once she reached the door, she pressed the intercom button.

"Hey Mel! Open up!"

There was no answer.

All of a sudden, she heard the sound of large footsteps approaching from down the hall, so she turned to see who it was. The pounding feet that belonged to the blue blur that ran by, shook the floor so hard it caused her to topple backwards. Luckily, she used the nearby wall to keep her from falling on her butt. Then a gust of wind swished past her that had the faint smell of women's perfume. When she turned towards the fleeing individual, she noticed the lot smaller pursuer, following closely at his heels, holding a long broom with soft, fuzzy bristles on the end of it.

"MELANIE!!!" Camille shouted, hoping she'd stop. But she didn't.

"I'm gonna get you, you big blue snob!" Melanie cursed.

As Camille watched them turn the corridor, she just smiled, shook her head, and decided not to give it another thought. Whatever the reason was for her anger, she knew that Mel and Tracks would eventually talk it out together, but when they did, it was not always spoken with an indoor voice!

She continued down the long hallways of the Ark till she reached the entrance, where Hound was standing guard. He heard her presence and turned towards her.

"Hey Camille. Going somewhere?"

"Yeah. I'm heading to BCF. It's time for me for me to stock up on some winter gear."

"BCF?"

"Burlington Coat Factory. It's where we humans go to buy clothes to keep us warm during the winter. I was thinking of walking there but--"

"Hold on--" Hound put his hand out in front of her and turned towards the sound of loose rocks rolling down the mountainside.

He inspected the cliff above, but saw nothing. But once he activated his infer-red, he spotted the familiar robotic black panther nestled in the darkness in-between two large rocks, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"It's Ravage!" He shouted.

Once he knew his cover was blown, Ravage made a break for it. Hound fired a couple of shots, but Ravage had managed to make it over the mountain, and out of view before taking a hit.

"Hound! Go after him!"

"I can't." He said as he lowered his weapon.

"Why not?!"

"Prime gave me strict orders to stay and guard the entrance. If I go after him, The Ark would be open to attack."

"Oh." She lowered her head slightly, agreeing with the logical response.

The whole encounter left Hound feeling uneasy.

"You know what? I don't think it's such a good idea for you to leave now. What if Ravage overheard where you were headed?"

Camille wasn't worried.

"Naw, that corrupt-kitty didn't hear nothin'. It's okay Hound. I'll just take a little muscle with me!"

"Who?"

"Sideswipe of course!" She announced proudly. "Can you call him for me?"

Hound inhaled deeply. "You know I'd feel a lot safer if Ironhide went with you."

"But he hates driving all over town with me and Mel whenever we go shopping, and he complains about it practically every five minutes! Besides, what's wrong with taking Sideswipe?"

"He's just not as...responsible."

She waved her hand as if trying to shoo away a fly.

"Don't worry Hound, nothing's gonna happen to us! So…can you call him for me?"

"Sigh...okay." Hound reluctantly opened a communication channel. "Sideswipe, report."

"Sideswipe here."

"Can ya meet me at the entrance?"

"Sure Hound, what's up?"

"Would you please take Camille to town to buy some winter clothes?"

"WOULD I? I'll be there in an astrosecond!"

The sound of tires screeching down the corridor gave away his location. As he approached, he skidded to a sideways stop right at Hound's feet and swung open his door.

"Your chariot, my lady." He jokingly spoke with a British accent.

Camille blushed as she climbed into the driver's seat. The door then slowly shut behind her.

"Be careful you two. Oh, and one more thing..." Hound began.

Sideswipe started spinning his tires so loudly, Hound had to yell over it to be heard.

"DON'T FORGET TO--" Hound was cut off mid-sentence as he was engulfed with the dust from Sideswipe's tires peeling out.

Then once out of sight, the rest of his sentence continued.

"--Check in now and then."

When Ravage returned to Decepticon Headquarters, he leapt into the air and transformed into a tape and slid right into Soundwave's chest. Soundwave re-played his findings and Megatron listened intently. After the recording was finished, he turned towards Skywarp.

"Skywarp! I have a mission for you."

Skywarp stood at attention.

"Go to those coordinates, capture her and bring her to me."

"Right away boss!" He saluted then transformed and flew off.

Soundwave watched as Skywarp left the command bridge. Once he was gone, he turned to Megatron.

"Why send Skywarp on such an important task? Perhaps you should of sent Starscream. His tact and speed would greatly increase his chances of capture."

Megatron thinned his optics at Soundwave.

"Do not question my authority. I have my reasons." Was his reply.

Saying nothing more, Soundwave continued to observe the monitor in front of him, for any possible leads on more earth energy sources.

Starscream, who was not on the command bridge, still managed to overhear Megatron and Soundwave's little discussion through a nearby vent outside in the hall.

"So…Megatron is sending that idiot Skywarp to snag that human instead of me eh? I guess I'm gonna have to prove to my mighty leader that I, Starscream should be the only one to retrieve that human from those coordinates. I'd better follow him."

And with that, Starscream then hurried down the corridor till he knew he was out of earshot of the command bridge before taking off after Skywarp…but at a distance.

Once on the open highway, Camille gave Sideswipe the directions to where they were going. As they approached their destination, Camille directed him to park in a place that wouldn't attract much attention. Sideswipe understood, but loved hearing about how sought after and valuable his vehicle mode was to street punks. She exited the car and stroked the length of his hood as she playfully and seductively walked away. The sensation caused his engine to rev. Camille giggled to herself and turned towards the shopping establishment.

Right after she walked out of view, a kid on a razor scooter was going by and slowed down beside the red Ferrari.

"Wow!" He exclaimed as he put his hands on the tinted windows, trying to look inside.

"Hey! Hands off the window kid!" The car shouted, startling the boy.

And without even thinking, he transformed into robot mode in front of the boy.

He looked at the prints on his window and sulked.

"Aww…You know how hard it is to get these things out?"

"WOW! You're a robot AND a car?" The kid asked.

"COOL! Can you turn into a car again?"

"Sure." Sideswipe complied and transformed back into car mode.

"How fast can you go?"

"Why don't we find out?" He said as he opened his passenger door.

"But only for a little while, I gotta be back here okay?"

And with that, the kid folded up his scooter and jumped in the passenger seat. Then Sideswipe burned rubber done the block, leaving long black skid marks on the street.

As soon as Camille entered the store, she smiled to herself. It had been a while since she last went shopping. She browsed the racks, till she eyed a beautiful suede tan coat with faux fur lining the inside and collar. She excitedly took it from the rack and tried it on. The fur felt lovely. She was for sure going to buy that coat!

Then suddenly a bright purple flash blinded her and the sounds of people screaming soon followed. When her vision recovered, she was shocked to see the purple and black Decepticon seeker on his hands and knees, fishing around through the humans, as if he was looking for one in particular. She gasped and backed up against a pillar with a mirror attached to it when Skywarp, after flicking another wrong human from his grasp, moved his optics in her direction and smiled maliciously when he recognized the face he was hunting for.

"Ahh…There you are! And right where they said you'd be!"

How on Earth was he able to find her so quickly? Then it dawned on her…Ravage.

His large hand approached her shivering body. At the last second, she ducked away as his hand grabbed the pillar, causing the glass to break and crunch in his grasp.

"Aww man!" He cursed.

"Hey! Hold still!"

She continued to do her best to dodge the pursuing large black hands, but lost the battle when they both trapped her in a corner. As they closed around her, she let out a scream.

"Hey relax. I aint gonna squish you."

She struggled to get loose, but the black and purple Decepticon's grip was far too tight. When he tried to get to his feet, his head came to an abrupt stop as it hit the ceiling.

"Seems a little too cramped in here...hold tight. I'm gonna teleport us outside."

In a purple blur, the two were whisked outside and re-appeared in the parking lot. Only then was Skywarp able to stand up at full height, with Camille in tow.

She frantically looked around for Sideswipe, but could only see black tire marks leaving the place where his vehicle mode last stood.

"Oh no…Where did he go?"

"What did you say, human?"

She quickly changed her question, doing her best not to alert the Decepticon of the possible Autobot that may be nearby.

"Wha--What--What do you want with me?"

"I don't want nothing…Megatron wants you."

The name alone brought a chill down her spine.

"Why?"

"I don't know, I was just ordered to get you." Then his voice turned serious. "And I will follow my orders."

He took off for the air, with me still in hand. The higher he climbed, the colder I got. When he straightened out and started to fly east, I managed to flip the hood of the tan suede jacket I was still wearing over my head to try and block the piercing cold, before it started to hit me in the face, but it didn't help much. I yelled at him to stop. He didn't.

Moments later, Sideswipe returned to the parking lot with the kid. The excited boy jumped out of the car happily and waved goodbye to his new space alien friend. Sideswipe then started to look around for Camille. But the only thing he could see were cop cars and emergency vehicles parked all over the lot, and news reporters taking statements from witnesses. What could have happened here? And where was Camille? He rolled closer and listened intently to try and find out what happened. When he overheard a man tell a reporter that a large black and purple robot took off for the sky moments ago with a girl in his hands, he knew exactly who the hostage was…Camille! He also knew who the culprit was…Skywarp.

"Oh no." He thought to himself.

He then backed up and drove out of the parking lot and back onto the street that led towards the main highway. He had to get back to Autobot headquarters immediately so he could use Teletraan-1 to find out which way they went. But the more pressing matter at hand was…what would Optimus do to him when he finds out that he lost her? He's supposed to be her guardian. How would he explain himself? All these thoughts and many more raced through his processor as he sped back towards the Ark.

____________________________________________________________________________

As Skywarp and I flew on, my mind raced for possible ideas of escape. Then I had one. I decided to casually mention that I knew where a large amount of rocket fuel was being kept, and that I would take him to it if he stopped. After hearing those words, he slowed down and stood hovering over some dry desert area with large pillar-like rock formations down below. I desperately tried to feed the not so bright Decepticon more false information in hopes that he would land so I could possibly make an escape.

"Just think how happy Megatron would be if you brought back me AND the rocket fuel!"

Then my suggestion finally clicked inside the dense processor of the seeker and he started to descend. He landed next to a very tall rock spire that was roughly his height. With a swift swing of his free arm, he knocked off the sharp tip of the spire, leaving a flat surface, which he then placed me on. His red optics thinned as he eyed me.

"Alright. You better not be pulling my leg, or I'll frag what Megatron told me to do and kill you myself."

My stomach lurched at those words. He was serious. I hoped to myself that I was doing the right thing by trying to deter him, but the consequences were beginning to be a little too dangerous and life threatening for my taste.

Pulling my head from those thoughts, I gazed at my surroundings. A slight breeze blew over me and I noticed the air was now noticeably warmer, which was pleasant sensation compared to the blistering wind in my face only moments ago.

Because of the dizzying height, and the limited amount of space on the spire, I toppled over and landed near the edge of the spire. As I peered down, I swallowed hard as I realized I was more than 9 stories up. There would be no way on Earth I could have climbed down. Then I saw Skywarp stretch and yawn.

"Well human…I'm feeling a little drained so I'm gonna recharge for a little bit. And when I wake up…"

He pointed his finger threateningly at me. "You're gonna take me straight to that rocket fuel…or I'll use you for target practice."

He then got comfortable (if that was even possible) on a nearby landslide of small rocks. They looked smooth, and most of them were almost completely round. He lay down slowly, so he wouldn't scratch his armor. And then I watched as his optics went offline.

Now came the hard part. How would I find a way off this rock without killing myself from the fall and without him noticing? My answer suddenly approached in the form of a military jet far off in the distance. I eyed it with hope, but that hope soon turned to terror when I saw it transform into a bipedal being and land on its feet not far from us. As he approached, he noticed the slumbering Skywarp and smiled at him. His optics then shot towards me, totally helpless on the spire.

Though it was dark, I still recognized that sinister smile. Starscream. I was sure the last few encounters with me left a bad taste in his mouth, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was there to bump me off, just purely out of spite.

"Well well well…" He began, using a very quiet tone.

Once he spoke, I had this strange feeling like he wasn't supposed to be there, otherwise I'm sure he would of woken up Skywarp. Even though the company I was now with were both Decepticons, I feared Starscream more than any of the others. His temper had no limits, his determination, undeterred. His malice, undying. His mercy, non-existent. So I panicked and turned towards Skywarp's inanimate body, in hopes that he would wake up and start an argument with him or something so I could use it as a distraction and try to escape.

Maybe if I could chuck a piece of the rock spire at his noggin, it would wake him up! But as I broke a piece off and raised it over my head, I felt the tip of Starscream's null ray gently rest against my back. I froze.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He rumbled, his tone dangerously low.

My feet stayed glued to the spot I was standing. My heart started to pound in my chest.

"You're coming with me." He said as he closed his hand around my waist.

I dropped the rock from my hands and struggled and grunted as I tried to pry Starscream's fingers apart with no luck.

"Now don't make a sound or I'll end your pathetic existence with a little squeeze."

He squeezed me slightly as he said those words, causing me to wince and preventing me from executing the most unlikely attempt to escape...calling on Skywarp for help.

He walked quietly away from Skywarp's resting place and when he was far enough away, he lifted off. And again the cold wind blew across my face. We flied for a while, when I started to notice the wind was getting colder and colder.

Then it finally occurred to me, he was taking me north, to colder climates. But why? He steadily continued his trek north. As we flew, I noticed the more mountain ranges we passed over, the more they were covered in snow. Then with no warning, he suddenly veered off course and was rapidly approaching some nearby snow drifts. What was he planning? As he started to descend, I guess I was going to find out.

_____________________________________________________________________________

When Sideswipe finally reached the entrance of Autobot Headquarters, he transformed to robot mode and blew right past Hound who was still standing guard.

"Sideswipe wait!" He yelled to him, but Sideswipe kept running.

When he reached the command bridge, Optimus, who was standing in front of Teletraan-1, heard his footsteps and quickly turned to face him. Sideswipe skidded to a stop.

"Prime!"

"Sideswipe, what is it? And why haven't you checked in with Hound?"

His voice filled with anguish. "Prime, I'm so sorry…it's Camille, she's…she's been captured by Skywarp."

"WHAT? I thought you were watching her! How did this happen?"

There was no way Sideswipe was going to tell Prime about joyride he gave the kid in the parking lot. If he did, Prime would probably revoke his guardianship. Instead, he said nothing and just hung his head low.

"Sigh…I know you are still young Sideswipe, but you need to understand that being a guardian is a serious responsibility. We can't afford to make mistakes when it comes to the humans of this planet. She doesn't deserve whatever the Decepticons are planning to do to her."

"I understand Prime." He answered honesty.

"Now, do you by any chance know which direction they were headed? We could use the eye spies to try and locate them."

"Yes, that's what I came in here to do in the first place! A bystander mentioned that they were headed east."

"Prowl, can you bring the eye spies visuals on screen?"

"Way ahead of you, Prime." Prowl replied as he punched buttons on the computer console in front of him.

Many different locations were now blipping on Teletraan-1's monitor, one after another. Then suddenly an image stopped and their kidnapper filled the entire monitor.

"There! It's Skywarp!" Sideswipe shouted at one of the monitors as it showed a still sleeping Skywarp nestled in a mound of small rocks.

"Wow, that was quick." Prowl added.

"Where is that?" Prime questioned.

"Arizona." Prowl answered.

"But why isn't Camille anywhere near him?" Optimus asked as he scrutinized the image.

"Prowl, keep searching."

The pictures blipped continuously until an all white image caused Optimus to halt the images.

"Wait Teletraan, go back."

The computer obeyed and then zoomed in on the last picture and soon a little black speck in the corner of the screen enlarged to form a familiar silhouette of a seeker, in the midst of the white snowstorm.

"It's Starscream! And he's got Camille!" Optimus said as he looked closer at the image and could see that Camille was locked in his hand, shaking and doing her best to keep warm.

"What is he going to do with her out there?" Prowl asked.

"I don't know…but I'm not gonna let him hurt her!" Sideswipe shouted as he turned and ran out of the command bridge.

"Sideswipe wait!" Optimus shouted, but it was too late, he was already gone.

Sideswipe ran towards Skyfire, who was luckily walking down the hall in his direction.

"Skyfire! I need a ride to the Arctic! Starsream's got Camille! Can you help me?"

"A rescue mission huh? No problem. Hop in."

And in seconds the very large Autobot transformed himself into his space jet mode, and within minutes, they were off.

Starscream crunched through the snow drifts with me in hand as he surveyed the surroundings.

"Yes. This will do nicely."

I struggled and pushed, but Starscream's hands absolutely would not budge. I screamed in frustration.

"I'd save your strength if I were you." He said soothingly to me as he brought me up to his face. "You're going to need it."

I looked back at him with a confused look.

"What are you talking about? What are you planning to do to me here?"

"Prove to you how inferior your kind is compared to us by having you freeze to death in the climate of your own planet!"

Since I was so close to his face, I took a chance and swung my hand at him, hoping to inflict some kind of damage. But he was fast, and quickly pulled his face away.

"You MONSTER!" I yelled with tears in my eyes.

He just smiled and laughed as he placed me in front of a large rock in the snow at his feet. It was slightly shaped like an "L" so I stood in its bend, hoping the rock would take the impact of the snowstorm that was blowing from the right. It helped, for the snowstorm wasn't hitting me directly, but the temperature was still way too cold.

"Now now…don't be angry. Its just good old-fashioned revenge! I may have failed to capture you in the past, but this time you won't escape me. You have nowhere to go, no one to turn to. It will give me great pleasure watching you freeze and die."

His words cut into me like a dull knife. My thoughts then turned to the only mech that could overshadow his actions.

"What about Megatron? Didn't he order you to bring me back to him alive?"

"I don't CARE what Megatron orders, I'll do as I wish!"

I quietly pulled my cell phone from my back pocket and prepped it for recording.

"What?" I yelled, pretending I didn't hear him the first time cause of the whipping snowstorm.

"I SAID…I DON'T CARE WHAT MEGATRON ORDERS! I'LL DO AS I WISH! HE'S A PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A LEADER ANYWAY."

I smiled as I ended recording and stuck my cell phone back in my rear pocket. I knew the only way I would get out of this mess alive would either be: rescue by Autobot, or by re-playing that recording to Megatron somehow. Hopefully this little tidbit of info that Starscream's revealed to me, should I survive, would be MY perfect revenge.

"It's a shame you flesh creatures aren't equipped with automatic coolant and heating systems like we are."

He crossed his arms as the snowstorm buffeted his armor.

I struggled to close the jacket, but it did nothing. I was still unbearably cold. The snowstorm continued, and Starscream just stood there, unmoving. Watching me. I would look up at him every so often, his facial expression unchanged. After about 40 minutes wearing just jeans, a tee shirt, and the suede fur jacket, Starscream was getting impatient.

"Aren't you dead yet?"

I didn't answer. I stayed huddled in a ball against the rock. He noticed I kept tugging on the jacket and then reached forward and started to pull it off of me.

"Maybe if I remove this…"

"NO!!!" I shouted as he picked it up by the sleeves with me in it.

I slid out and landed harshly on the ice. When it touched my skin, it felt like needles. I curled up into a ball and clenched my teeth in agony at the feeling of cold now ferociously attacking me.

"That's better. I see you're starting to turn blue. It shouldn't be much longer now."

He was right. Every so often, I would move my toes, to make sure they weren't frozen yet, but this time, I couldn't feel them. I could fight it no longer. I released from my fetal position, closed my eyes and prepared to face my fate. My death was then interrupted suddenly by laser fire rippling across the snow in front of me, a few of them pelting Starscream with vicious hits.

"Aahh! What the--? No…it can't be!"

I struggled to open my eyes, and when I succeeded, to my surprise, I saw a large red and white space jet shooting at Starscream. Then a hatch from its bottom opened up and somebody I recognized leapt out to my rescue using his jetpack to descend from the high height. It was Sideswipe! Relief flooded my thoughts as the heat from his jet pack warmed me as he descended near me. His red armor stood out like a drop of blood on a bed of white linen.

Sideswipe pointed his gun at Starscream, then carefully scooped my unmoving body from the snow with his other hand and held me close to his chest. He looked down at me.

"Oh Camille… I'm so sorry I couldn't get to you sooner."

"But…you're here…now." I said with what strength I had. "And…that's all that…matters."

He smiled at me with tears in his eyes, and I smiled back.

Starscream knew he wouldn't be able to outrun the pursuing Autobot by air since Skyfire's flight capabilities were equal to that of a spaceship so he did the only thing he could do as an alternative. He started to run, Camille's tan suede coat still in his hands.

I slowly turned my head and watched as Starscream got captured by the much larger Skyfire. He restricted him tightly with his much larger arms and Starscream just squirmed.

"Let go of me Skyfire! You traitor!"

Skyfire just laughed.

"Hmmm…not bad huh Sideswipe? We have Megatron's second-in-command in our custody! His head would catch a nice prize don't you think?" He joked.

"No." He answered as anger filled his spark and hatred filled his eyes.

"I'm gonna waste him right here, RIGHT NOW!"

"What?" Skyfire looked worriedly at Sideswipe as he approached him and Starscream. He could tell by his expression he was beyond reason.

He held up his gun to Starscream's throat and thinned his optics. His finger slowly tightened on the trigger.

"STOP!" I yelled.

Sideswipe held his pose for a few seconds longer then looked down at me.

"Why?"

"Let him go. He'll be put through far worse if you let him go.

"But—"

"Trust me." I said with a smile and a wink.

He read my body language, smiled and then lowered his weapon.

"Let him go, Skyfire."

"But Sideswipe—!"

"Do it!"

Starscream bucked out of Skyfire's arms and transformed into his jet mode.

"You fools! Letting me escape so easily? You Autobots must have a few screws loose! Hahahaha!" He taunted. Then his optics shot towards me.

"Well my dear, I guess I have you to thank for this. Not only that, but this means I get another chance at trying to kill you. Thanks for the opportunity!"

And with that, he flew off into the clouds and disappeared.

Skyfire looked up at Starscream's vapor trail and put his hand on his head in disbelief. Then turned towards us.

"I hope you have a REAL good reason for making me to do that."

"Oh you'll see." I said through closed eyes.

"What could you be up to little one?" Skyfire accused as he gently rubbed my head with his finger.

"Get me back to Autobot headquarters, and I'll show you!" I said with a smile.

So once Sideswipe and I were loaded safely into Skyfire's cargo hatch, the three of us took off and headed back to Autobot headquarters.

Once there, the others were all glad to see that I was fine. I was still feeling a little frostbitten, so Ratchet placed me in a nest of thermal blankets. As I lay there in the blankets, slowly returning to my normal temperature, I didn't even notice that since we got back, Sideswipe had never left my side. I felt so proud to have such a dedicated guardian. True, he screwed up earlier in the day, but I don't blame him for it. It was more my fault for broadcasting where I was headed. I know that Megatron would stop at nothing to use Melanie and me to the Autobot's disadvantage, but I still irresponsibly let it slip. From that point on, I decided to play it safe, and be a little bit more careful from now on.

When Skyfire returned with a small bundle of flowers for me, he placed them in a nearby vase and brought up a matter I had totally forgot about.

"You know Camille, you never told us why you wanted us to let Starscream go."

"Oh that's right!" I reached for my cell phone and pulled it out of my back pocket. "Can someone take me to Teletraan-1? I need to make a 'phone call'."

Sideswipe scooped his hands around the blanket and walked towards the command bridge. Optimus and some of the others where viewing eye spy images on Teletraan's monitor when Sideswipe walked in.

"Prime, can you open a channel to the Nemesis? I have a message for Megatron." Camille asked.

"What? Why on Earth would you--"

Camille lifted up her hand to stop him from speaking further and smiled. "Trust me, you'll want to see this." She held her phone between her fingers and shook it at him.

"I need to play this recording for Megatron"

Slightly confused, Optimus complied. "Very well."

Optimus opened a channel and within seconds Megatron's face filled the monitor, with a few Decepticons visible over the corner of his shoulder.

"Ahh...Prime. This is an unexpected surprise."

"I'm not here to chat, Megatron. I just need to play a message for you."

"A message? About what?"

"You'll see." Camille said to herself.

She prepped the phone and put its mouthpiece to Teletraan's speaker, hoping to amplify the sound and once she hit play, she sat back and waited for the fireworks. Starscream's high-pitched scratchy voice then filled the Nemesis.

"I SAID…I DON'T CARE WHAT MEGATRON ORDERS! I'LL DO AS I WISH! HE'S A PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A LEADER ANYWAY."

Starscream, who was standing a few feet behind Megatron suddenly froze. The other Decepticons turned towards him first, mouths agape. Then Megatron slowly swiveled himself around to face him.

"Oh really?"

Starscream panicked. He nervously shook a pointed finger at me from the monitor.

"YOU! You are SO dead when I get my hands on you, human! You won't live to see your next ACK--!"

Megatron's grasp prevented Starscream from finishing his sentence. The Decepticon leader's back was now facing the monitor. He then used his free hand and reached back to sever the transmission.

Once the screen went blank, the Autobots on Teletraan's end were boisterous with laughter.

"Looks like Starscream's mouth got him in trouble again!"

"You can say that again!"

"Nice one, Camille!"

"Yeah, way to go!"

A few of the Autobots exclaimed.

Melanie, who was unenthusiastically dragging her broom behind her, stepped onto the command bridge.

"Hey...what's so funny?"

"Oh, Melanie, you missed it! Camille recorded Starscream bad-mouthing Megatron, then played it back for him to hear!" Jazz exclaimed.

"Teletraan, replay last transmission."

The monitor flickered and then played back the recent video footage. Melanie then started to laugh hysterically.

"Hahahaha! Oh that was genius!" She held the broom to her chest and laughed some more. Then she cleared her throat and her face suddenly turned serious.

"But back to the matter at hand...has anyone seen Tracks?"

"Not since this morning." Optimus answered.

"Well, can you let me know the minute you see him?"

"Uhh...sure."

With that, Melanie turned heel and marched out of the room with the broom over her shoulder looking very much like a solider and her rifle. Optimus then opened a communication channel to Tracks.

"Tracks. Come in. This is Optimus Prime."

"Tracks here."

"Where are you?"

"Umm...a disclosed location."

"What? Don't tell me you've left the b--"

"No, I haven't left the base." He quickly interrupted. "Melanie is still looking for me isn't she?"

"What's going on between you two?"

"Nothing serious. I just need to be scarce for a while."

Optimus paused for a moment.

"Would this have anything to do with the broom she's been carrying around with her?"

"As a matter of fact...yes."

"Well I don't want to be short a mech if I need to send out patrols, return to your quarters immediately."

"Oh please Prime! Can't we just wait till Mel goes to sleep?"

Optimus sighed, then smiled. "Oh alright."

Both mechs ended communications and Tracks remained in his hiding place. Waiting for the lights of the base to go out for the night so he could safely approach his room without being followed.

As the day slowly came to and end, Melanie finally gave up and turned in for the night. Her mind was wide awake, busily festering ideas for the perfect morning attack. The next morning, the elusive Tracks would soon find out the penalty for his actions. Melanie slinked down the hallway towards his room, dragging the broom behind her. She punched in the pass code on the keypad and the door hissed open. Melanie could see Tracks was sprawled out on his berth, his mind still lost in a pleasant recharge. She readied the broom and counted to herself…3…2…1…

"TICKLE ATTACK!"

"What the?" Tracks awoke with a start. "Mel! What are you—"

She started to scrub his feet with the soft bristles of her broom.

"Aaahhh! What are you doing? Stop! STOP! Ahahaha! STOP it!"

"Nope! Not a chance!" She said as she continued to scrub.

"Melanie! Stop! STOP! I mean it! Stop please!"

"Hmmm...I just thought of something. You've never begged before. Come on big bro! Lemme hear it! Beg for mercy!" She began to scrub viciously.

"No! Nooooooo! I won't say it!" He continued to fight it.

"Do you give?"

"No!" He still wouldn't give.

"Do you yield?"

"NO! NEVER!" Melanie was getting irritable at Track's defiance, so she got dirty.

"Say it or I won't stop."

"Oh no. You wouldn't dare!"

Her facial expression became concrete when she raised an eyebrow, her actions did not cease.

"OKAY! OKAY! I GIVE! I SURRENDER! I YIEEELD!"

"Excellent. THAT'S all I wanted to hear!" Melanie announced as she stood proudly with the broom in her right hand with her other hand on her hip.

Then a hand came swiftly from behind her as if from nowhere and scooped her up. The hand came so fast, she didn't realize it was Tracks' until she was at his eye level.

"You are SO dead!" He said as he nuzzled her head with his nose.

Mel was a little shocked and slightly impressed. "Wow! I've never seen you move so fast before! Why were you able to move so fast?"

"Cause you're gonna get it, that's why."

"Oh really? I don't think so." Melanie replied, she was still tightly constricted, but still cocky.

"Wanna bet?" Tracks then opened his fingers slightly so he could access her ribs with his free hand.

He was just about to exact revenge when Sideswipe entered their room, with Camille in his hand.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" Sideswipe asked as he carefully placed Camille, who was covering herself with a thermal blanket on the floor.

"Oh nothing. Perfect timing by the way! Tracks? Would you put me down please? We have company!" Melanie asked politely.

Reluctantly, Tracks obeyed. Once lowered to the ground, she skipped out of his hand and welcomed her saviors.

"Hey guys! How ya feeling Camille? You feeling better? You still feel cold?"

"Not as much anymore thanks to Sideswipe." She replied, then glanced up affectionately at the towering Autobot.

He blushed and put a hand behind his head, slightly embarrassed.

"So what are you guys up to? Are you busy?" Camille asked, pulling up her thermal blanket as it fell off her shoulder a little.

"Mmmm...no, not really." Replied Mel.

"Then you wanna go for a drive with us?"

Melanie and Tracks looked at each other and smiled.

"Sure kiddo. Any particular destination?" Tracks answered for the both of them.

"Nope. I just wanna ride till the sun goes down. It relaxes me. And Ratchet said to stay warm, and what better way to stay warm than to feel the heater inside Sideswipe's vehicle mode?"

"Well, I guess we're all set then!" Tracks transformed into his vehicle mode, Sideswipe immediately doing the same.

Both girls boarded their guardians and then the two drove out of the Ark and onto the paved road towards the main highway. Once there, the two Autobots drove side by side as they disappeared into the sunset.


	6. Chapter 6

**Reality Bites**

The full moon lit up the night sky, illuminating the sleepy hills and forests that surrounded the lonely volcano that the Ark had crashed into millions of years ago. About 40 miles from the base, a red Ferrari cruised down the empty highway, the deep hum of its engine was slowly lulling its passenger to sleep.

"Don't fall asleep, Camille. We're almost home."

Camille flinched at the sound of Sideswipe's voice, then stretched her arms and yawned.

"Awww come on, Sideswipe! We've been driving all day! It was great to visit my Uncle and all, heck I haven't seen him since I moved in with you guys! But just let me sleep for a little while? Pleeeease?"

The Autobot guardian could never deny his human whenever she pleaded like that and gave in instantly.

"Oh all right."

And with that, she smiled and let all her inhibitions go as sleep instantly took her.

---

The sound of tires screeching rudely awakened the slumbering human. She immediately sat up and looked out the windshield, wondering if Sideswipe had stopped to avoid missing a deer or something, but what she saw was anything but that. They had arrived at the base, but something was wrong. Smoke seeped out from large blast holes in the Ark's hull, and some of the mountainside was blasted off too. The Autobot base had been attacked!

"What in the world?" She said as she gazed at the destruction.

She quickly got out of the car and stood facing the mountain in disbelief. Sideswipe, once Camille was far enough away, transformed into robot mode and looked on in shock.

"This looks REAL bad, we better check for any survivors!" And with that, the two raced inside the base.

Once inside, they noticed destruction everywhere! Almost every room's door was blasted in! It's obvious the Decepticons didn't want to miss anybody. Which then brought a horrible thought to the girl causing her to stop running. When Sideswipe no longer heard her feet pounding behind him, he turned towards her; unaware of the reason she stopped.

"Sideswipe…" She began, "What if they're all dead?"

Not being able to pick up energy signatures from any of his fellow Autobots at the moment, soon brought a feeling of dread over him. He looked down at Camille and did his best to deter her thoughts on such a matter.

"I'm sure they all got out safely. Come on, let's go check Teletran-1's last recorded images."

They ran up to Teletran's monitor, but as Sideswipe was typing in the request, a voice sounded from the darkness behind them.

"Ahhh...my missing Autobot and his little human friend."

They both wheeled around only to see many pairs of red optics glowing in the shadows, and one pair in particular, standing in front of them all.

"Megatron..." Sideswipe said as he clenched his fists and stood in front of Camille.

"That's right Sideswipe. It is I, the great Decepticon Leader, the one who has fought your kind for millions of years, eager to terminate your faction, but never succeeding. Until now." He ended his words with an evil grin.

Then Megatron's expression turned to a frown as he pointed towards the Autobot.

"Detain him!"

Skywarp suddenly teleports, appearing to his right, grabbing his arm before he has a chance to aim is shoulder-mounted missile at Megatron. Thundercracker then runs up and grabs his other arm. They work him down to his knees, as Megatron's laugh echoes throughout the empty base.

Noticing that nobody attempted to grab her, Camille grew confused, then turned towards Megatron.

"Why aren't you trying to catch ME? And where are all the other Autobots?"

"They...are all dead, thanks to you." He said as he gestured his hand towards her.

Camille covered her mouth and gasped loudly, taken a step back.

"If I remember correctly, it was you, my dear, who gave us access to Teletran-1's security files in the first place, allowing us to find the perfect opportunity to plan our attack. And we are grateful for it, so your reward is your life."

Sideswipe couldn't believe his audio receptors. He turned and looked at her in total disbelief.

"Camille...how could you? How could you betray us?"

"I didn't do it! I swear!" She shouted.

"I…I thought you were our friend?" He said looking at her with the saddest optics she had ever seen.

"Sides! Please! You gotta believe me!" She pleaded as tears began to fall from her cheeks.

The reality of the situation sunk in, revealing the cold hard truth, causing Sideswipe to hang his head in shame.

"Don't worry my dear, I didn't kill ALL the Autobots." He turned his head and motioned for Rumble and Frenzy to come forward.

"Let me go you walking piles of scrap!" Melanie shouted as the two cassetticons dragged her forward by her arms and into the light.

"MELANIE!" Camille shouted.

Mel looked up. "Cammy! Don't worry! I believe you!"

Camille was proud of the fact that her true friend saw through the Decepticons' trickery.

Megatron grew amused. "How cute. The fleshling's friend still has faith in the traitor!"

Melanie's head swiveled towards the Decepticon leader. "You're wrong Megatron, There's NO way she would of done something so horrible!"

"Oh no? Perhaps you should watch this security video then."

Megatron signaled Soundwave to release Laserbeak who ejected from the blue Decepticon's chest and inserted himself into Teletran-1. A video then came on of Camille at the command bridge when nobody else was there and was visibly seen taking data disks and hiding them in her jacket.

"What do you say to this?"

Melanie couldn't believe her eyes! "No!…It can't be!" She continued to watch the video, then closed her eyes and turned away from it.

Megatron chuckled as Melanie's faith in Camille was instantly obliterated.

Camille was perplexed by the amount of evidence against her for something she had never even done! Frustrated, she soon became angry and yelled at Megatron.

"YOU made this all up! It's all a lie! Why are you pitting them against me?"

"Why not?" He sneered as he conceitedly rubbed it in. "You know this is who you really are."

"Don't say that!" She shouted.

"I could tell you've had the will of a Decepticon in you from the moment I first laid eyes on you."

"STOP IT!" She screamed, covering her ears with her hands.

"Don't deny your destiny. Join us. And we will rule this planet, and the universe, together!"

Camille felt her insides pulling inward in anger and yelled out. "I'll NEVER join you…you bastard!"

Megatron, slightly annoyed by the insult, looked down at her. "Don't try my patience fleshling, I can be worse…a lot worse."

"Go blow it out your afterburner!" She snapped.

Megatron's facial expression was unchanged.

"Fine, if that's your decision, then as a thank-you for allowing us victory over the Autobots, how about I kill your human friend AND your guardian right before your eyes!"

"You wouldn't…" she pleaded shakily.

"You think not? You underestimate me! Skywarp! Thundercracker! Bring me the Autobot."

The two seekers did as they were told and forcefully dragged Sideswipe towards their leader. Megatron then brought his Fusion Cannon to Sideswipe's chest, right above his spark chamber. Then turned towards his Second-in-Command.

"Starscream! I shall give you the task of crushing this pathetic fleshling under your heel."

The Air Commander's eyes lit up. "With utmost pleasure! Lord Megatron!"

He approached Melanie. The tall mech's shadow then loomed over the terrified Scots girl.

"Looks like I get the pleasure of getting rid of you once and for all!" He told her as he looked down at her.

Melanie closed her eyes tightly, covered her head with her hands, and curled up in a ball. Megatron then looked back at Camille.

"Are you ready? On the count of three…"

"One…" He said as his fusion cannon hummed as it started to charge.

"Two…"

Starscream lifted his foot over Melanie and awaited Megatron's order.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

---

"NOOOOOOOO!"

The screaming of his passenger caused Sideswipe to jump in surprise and unintentionally swerve about on the dark empty highway.

"Whoa! Camille! Calm down!" He shouted.

Camille re-focused her mind, and then realized she was back in the safety of Sideswipe's passenger seat.

"Ohhhhhh!" She moaned as she leaned back in total relief.

"What happened?" Her concerned guardian asked.

"Sideswipe, I just had the most horrible nightmare!" She said as she covered her face with her hands.

"Really? About what?"

"I dreamt that the base was—"

Suddenly Optimus Prime's voice came through on the secure channel.

"Sideswipe! Return to the base immediately! Our scanners have picked up a Decepticon somewhere in the base!"

"What? Don't worry Prime, we'll be there in an astrosecond! Sideswipe out."

Camille froze upon hearing Prime's words. Was what she had just dreamed, really going to happen in real life? Keeping the thought to herself for the moment, she asked her guardian a more important question.

"How far are we from the base?"

"About a mile. Hang on tight Camille, I'm gonna punch it."

She held tightly to his dashboard as the Ferrari put the pedal to the metal and in turn, doubled its current traveling speed. When the base was in view, she was relieved to see the Ark wasn't shot up like in her dream. Camille got out Sideswipe's passenger door and ran towards the entrance.

When the two ran inside, they immediately came across poor Optimus being held hostage by Megatron with nobody else around. Optimus struggled to loosen Megatron's grip from his neck, but that only made him squeeze tighter. Desperate to save his leader, Sideswipe pulls out his laser rifle and points it at Megatron.

"Megatron! How…how did you get in here?"

"If you must know, Laserbeak's surveillance patrols reported that the entrance to the Ark was currently unguarded, and I just HAD to take advantage of the situation! Now put down your weapon, Autobot."

It was then that Camille remembered that she was the one in charge of distributing the guard schedules to the Autobots, and knew that tonight was supposed to be Mirage's night! But obviously he wasn't there so she must've gotten distracted by something and given him someone else's schedule by accident! This was disastrous! She had unknowingly helped the Decepticons gain access to the base! Her nightmare really WAS coming true!

As Sideswipe and Camille stood there helpless, Megatron put his fusion cannon to the side of Optimus' head and prepared to fire. Just then an unknown force pulled Megatron's arm up, causing him to unexpectedly release the shot into the ceiling! Optimus took advantage of the unexplained distraction and elbowed Megatron in his chest. When he lurched back in pain, Optimus used the opportunity and rolled to out of danger. Megatron then felt the unforeseen presence holding his other arm as well.

"NO! Who dares come between Megatron and his prey?" He snapped angrily as he tried to free himself from the mysterious entity.

"Why…ME of course!" A voice out of nowhere spoke.

Megatron's unseen captor then materialized behind him, revealing his identity.

"Mirage!" Optimus exclaimed as he got to his feet.

"Sorry for the delay, Prime. I was cloaked when he approached the entrance, but I didn't want to reveal myself right away, I know his firepower would of probably put a hole through me, so I followed him and decided to wait for the right moment."

"And not a moment too soon! My friend." Optimus answered with a chuckle.

"Well Megatron? Looks like your days of trying to conquer the universe are over!"

Megatron thinned his optics. "I wouldn't be too sure about that, Prime."

Suddenly, Laserbeak, who was perched out of sight nearby, knew that was his queue to intervene, so he took flight and started pelting the Autobots with his laser fire. Optimus brought his arm to his eyes, in an attempt to deflect the shots. Sideswipe immediately stood over Camille and used his body like a turtle shell to protect her from harm, but a few shots managed to hit Mirage on his back, causing him to loosen his grip, giving Megatron the opportunity he needed to escape. He pushed Mirage to the ground and ran a few feet away before taking off into the night sky, Laserbeak following closely behind.

"Until next time, Prime. And don't think you'll be as lucky!"

Just then, Tracks came running down the corridor with Melanie in his hands.

"We heard shots fired! Is everyone okay?" Tracks questioned as he placed Melanie on his shoulder.

"Yes, we're fine." Optimus answered. "We just had a little run in with Megatron just now."

Tracks blinked his optics. "What?"

Melanie was also in disbelief. "Megatron? Here?"

"Yes, but he's gone now." Optimus replied then turned towards his rescuer, noticing sparks coming from his backside.

"Tracks, if you and Sideswipe could please take Mirage to see Ratchet, he looks like he may need medical attention."

"I'll be alright, Prime." Mirage countered, but the Autobot leader was firm in his decision.

"No Mirage, I want him to make sure you're 100% fully functional."

"Oh all right."

And with that, the two Autobots pulled him to his feet. Tracks then lifted Melanie from his shoulder and placed her next to Camille.

"Hey! What gives? I wanna go too!"

"It's late kiddo, you and Camille should have been in bed hours ago!"

Melanie was insulted.

"Who says? Don't forget we're adults too you know!" She threw an arm around her friend's shoulder. "We can stay up as long as we want! Right Camille?"

Camille fought back a yawn. "Well, I for one had a very busy day AND night, so sleep sounds like a pretty good plan to me!"

"Oh poo…" Melanie huffed under her breath.

"But don't worry Mel, I'm not planning on going to bed just yet, first I've got one heck of a dream to tell you about!"

As Optimus watched Sideswipe and Tracks carrying Mirage to the med bay, his attention then diverted to the two human girls down the opposite hall. He looked at them and smiled as they walked side by side, chit chatting the whole time. Once again all life forms under his charge, as well as himself, were now safe. And he hoped, for the time being, it would stay that way.


	7. Chapter 7

******Spaceport Alpha**

The rising sun peeked through a gap in the mountains, blanketing the Ark with its first rays of morning light. The Ark's hull absorbed the light, but continued to sleep peacefully in the side of the volcano, as it did for thousands of years. The day itself began like any other, Camille and Melanie woke up, took their showers, did each other's hair then reported to the command bridge for their duties. Today the girls had to mop the floors in the maintenance bay. Not a simple task, but a lengthy one. Once Optimus Prime gave them the order, they quickly left the bridge and headed towards the maintenance bay, eager to begin their duties. Even though they were organic humans and not robotic organisms like them, they still showed extreme pride in being Autobots.

Once they started mopping, their conversation then changed from the usual banter of who's got the better guardian, to traveling. Sky Lynx, who was also in the maintenance bay getting an exam from Ratchet, overheard the girls' conversation. When Ratchet left to retrieve a particular tool he needed from his med bay, Sky Lynx poked his head into the conversation.

"So, you two girls are looking to visit destinations unknown huh? I think I'd be able to help you with that."

"You would?" Melanie asked hopefully.

"Sure. I know of a pretty popular intergalactic meeting place called Spaceport Alpha. Transformers and many other aliens alike visit the port daily. I'd be happy to take you there if you'd like."

"But we can't leave the base without our guardians! Camille suddenly interjected. "Optimus won't allow it!"

"Then we just won't tell him!" Sky Lynx whispered. "It will be our little secret!"

He brought down his head even closer to the girls. "If we leave right after lights out, we'll still be back before morning. Well, what do you say?"

The girls both looked at each other and smiled.

"I'm down!" Camille cheered.

"Me too!" Melanie added. "Can we go tonight?"

"Sure. Just meet me back here shortly after lights out."

"Okay!" Both the girls agreed.

The afternoon hours slowly dwindled by. Camille and Melanie were both anxiously awaiting nightfall. And when nightfall finally came, the two mischievous girls snuck out of their quarters, just as they had planned, and met up with Sky Lynx, who was already waiting for them in the maintenance bay when they arrived. The girls quickly boarded him, then he transformed into his space shuttle mode and took off for the night sky.

During their trip, the girls gazed excitedly out their windows at the endless stratosphere. Millions of white stars lay scattered across the dark backdrop. The experience itself was beyond words. It's true only a handful of humans have ever been in space, but being friends with giant robots from outer space definitely did have its advantages!

It didn't take them long to reach the spaceport. When it came into view, the girls noticed it immediately.

"Look! That must be it!" Melanie shouted.

"Wait, don't we need space suits or something?" Camille questioned.

"No. Fortunately for you two, there is an atmosphere there; so breathing won't be a problem. We're coming up on our final approach. Prepare to disembark."

Sky Lynx landed a little ways from what looked like some sort of intergalactic bar, and let the girls out. They raced toward the front doors and gawked at the alien passerbys entering and exiting the establishment.

"Wow! This is SO cool!" Camille mumbled as she excitedly grabbed Melanie by the arm and pulled her close.

"You girls want to take a look inside? Go ahead. I'll wait for you out here."

"All right! C'mon Mel!" Camille squealed as she pulled Melanie along with her.

"Just be careful!" He shouted just as the door to the bar slammed abruptly, cutting him off mid-sentence.

Once inside, the girls leisurely approached two empty stools at the bar, eyeballing all the different alien species along the way. They happily introduced themselves to the strangers on either side of them. They didn't seem to care much, probably because they didn't speak the same language they did. Just then, a mysterious alien who somewhat resembled a male human, but with greener skin and wearing a purple cloak recognized the language they spoke and approached them.

"Welcome humans. I take it this is your first time here at Spaceport Alpha?"

The girls, happy to find someone they could finally converse with, both showed a smile and responded.

"How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess." He smirked.

"So…what's a good drink to get here?" Camille inquired.

"Allow me to order you one." He said as he bowed his head.

Then he turned towards Melanie. "Would you like one too?"

"No thanks. Hey Cammy, that alien over there looks like a character from a movie I've seen. I wanna talk to him. I wonder if he speaks English. I'm gonna go find out. I'll be right back okay?"

"Okay. Just don't be gone too long."

The alien turned his back while the girls were talking and when Melanie had walked away, he turned back around, took Mel's empty seat and held out a glass to Camille with a strange blue liquid in it.

"Wow. What's this?"

"A common spirit one would find in a place such as this."

Without inspecting the drink, Camille took a small sip. It didn't taste like anything in particular, but it was definitely unrecognizable, that was for sure.

"So tell me a little about yourself…" The alien inquired.

Camille began to feel a little heavy in her head, but just assumed it was the drink's foreign effect on her. She told the alien about her life on Earth, and when she mentioned her Autobot guardian, the alien's eyes lit up.

"Why isn't your guardian here with you now?" He asked.

"He's…doesn't know I'm…here…" She slurred.

A swaying sensation then overtook her, making her motor functions even more sluggish.

"You know young one, it's dangerous here. Perhaps I should act as your guardian for the time being."

She knew THAT was out of the question. She scrunched her eyebrows in defiance, but when she tried to mumble an answer, the blue liquid had finally taken full effect, and she fell unconscious into the arms of the alien. He looked around for the other human, and when he saw that she was still engrossed in conversation, he threw his cloak over Camille, picked her up, and made his way out of the bar through a back entrance.

When Mel finally finished her interesting conversation, she made her way back to Camille, only to find an empty chair. A little worried, she started walking towards the front door, in hopes of finding Camille standing outside with Sky Lynx. But when she got out there, she was nowhere to be seen.

Sky Lynx noticed Melanie emerge from the bar by herself with a worried expression on her face and questioned her.

"Melanie? What's wrong? Where's Camille?"

"I don't know. Some alien offered us some drinks, which she took and I refused, then when I went to talk to some other alien, when I came back she was gone!"

Sky Lynx's spark rate doubled upon hearing this revelation. He immediately asked for a description of the alien.

"That alien that offered you drinks, what did it look like?"

Melanie scratched her head.

"Ummm…he looked human, his skin was slightly green, and he wore a large purple cloak."

"Oh no…" Sky Lynx murmured as he quickly pulled his head up to full height to survey his surroundings, in hopes of locating the fleeing kidnapper.

"What is it?" Melanie nervously asked.

"He's a shape shifter." He answered as he continued to swivel his head around.

"He preys on other species by posing as their opposite sex. Once he coaxes them into a false sense of security, he drugs them, takes them to copy their appearance, devours them, then repeats the cycle."

Melanie's eyes widened. "Oh no! I shouldn't have left her alone! Sky Lynx! We have to find her before its too late!"

Luckily, Sky Lynx managed to spot him retreating into an abandoned shuttle hangar with Camille in his arms.

"There he is!" Sky Lynx bellowed.

He instantly took off and trotted towards the hangar and used his head to bash through the doors.

"Sky Lynx! Wait for me!" Melanie shouted as she ran as fast as she could to catch up.

The loud crash alarmed the shape shifter, and he froze where he stood.

"PUT HER DOWN!" Sky Lynx roared.

The alien eyed the enormous Transformer and knew that he had been cornered, so he complied and slowly lowered Camille to the ground, but then quickly whipped out a small blaster and shot Sky Lynx in the eyes, temporarily stunning him.

"Ahh! Can't see!"

Melanie had finally caught up, but was totally exhausted and had to stop in the doorway of the hangar's entrance to try to catch her breath. The shape shifter however, did not want to leave empty-handed and ran for the Transformers' fatigued companion at his feet. Melanie was leaning on the doorframe with one arm, and had her other hand over her chest, in an attempt to regulate her breathing when the alien suddenly grabbed her around the waist and threw her over his shoulder.

Melanie's scream jolted Camille awake. Since she had only taken a sip of the blue liquid, the amount that she had wasn't enough to keep her inebriated indefinitely. Once Sky Lynx got his vision back, and located the source of Melanie's scream, he used his tail and sweeped the legs of the kidnapper, causing him to fall and drop Mel. The alien knew now that this time he was beat, and shape shifted into a gargoyle-looking creature and flew off.

Melanie had gotten up and quickly ran towards Camille.

"Cammy! Are you alright?" she asked as she helped her to her feet.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"You're lucky we got here when we did! You were about to become that alien's DINNER!"

"What?!"

Melanie had told Camille what Sky Lynx had told her about the shape shifter and Camille just couldn't believe it! Once the girls collected themselves, they both agreed that the Spaceport was way too dangerous and asked Sky Lynx to take them home.

The following morning, the two exhausted girls were rudely awakened by their eager Autobot guardians.

"Rise and shine Mel! Time for our road trip with Cam and Sides!" Tracks said as he barged into her room and forcefully removed her blankets from her bed and pushed her body slightly with his finger to get her moving.

"Mmmmmm…" Was Melanie's half asleep response.

Meanwhile in Camille's room…

"Cam! Come on! I wanna get out on that road before anyone else does! I'm sure Melanie's already up and ready to go!" Sideswipe whined.

Camille opened one eye and replied, "I highly doubt that."

The two guardians urged the girls to hurry up and take their showers, because both Autobots were feeling the overwhelming urge to travel today, But they were both rudely denied and wondered why the girls just felt like being homebodies today.

"Hey Tracks, Looks like Camille is out of commish today. She's not getting up!" Sideswipe told Tracks over his communicator.

"Mel neither. Isn't that strange?" Tracks answered back.

"What's wrong with you two? Why are you so tired?" They both asked.

Their synonymous replies were:

"Trust us, You DON'T want to know!"

Sky Lynx, who was walking down the hallway between both the girls' rooms, overheard them and just laughed to himself.


	8. Chapter 8

**A World Not Our Own**

The clock in Camille's room read 7:23am. She knew today was the day her and Melanie had lab duty in Wheeljack's workshop, but she continued to slumber peacefully in her all-too comfortable bed when suddenly an annoying ringing sound invaded her eardrums. She grumbled, pulling her pillow over her head. The ringing continued. She then forcefully kicked off her blanket and then groggily rolled off the side of the bed and started to search for the bothersome sound. Since her window shades were still down, her room was still completely dark. Still in a half awake state, she clumsily bumped into the side of her bed, then her furniture. Before she even knew it, she had followed the darn sound all over the perimeter of her room. When she was finally closing in on the sound, it moved again and came to a stop right above her head. Again, the ringing did not halt. She knew by all the traveling that she did, that she was about an arm's length away from her room's light switch, so she impatiently flicked it, and her view was then obstructed by the blinding light, and two large white Autobot legs.

"Wheeljack?" She drowsily questioned, using one of her hands to block the bright light from getting into her eyes.

"Yup. And if you think you're gonna sleep through lab duty today, you are sadly mistaken!" He scolded, still holding the source of the annoying ringing sound above her head.

"Yawn! Okay. I'll get ready." She answered in a defeated tone. The ringing noise continued to blare in her eardrums. "Well I'm up now. Can ya shut that thing off?" She asked.

"Oh yeah. Sure thing."

Wheeljack tried to silence the handmade alarm clock he had put together moments ago, but the task proved impossible. He looked his invention over and over, but couldn't find a way to turn it off.

Camille then put her hands over her ears as the sound seemed to just keep getting louder and louder.

"What's the hold up? Can't you shut that thing off?"

Wheeljack continued to fumble with it. Panic starting to fill his processor.

"Heh heh. Guess I forgot to make an off switch!" He nervously replied.

Camille covered her ears a little more tightly. "Is it just me, or is that thing getting louder?"

It wasn't her imagination, the sound WAS getting louder.

"I think maybe if I…" Wheeljack began when it suddenly got REALLY loud.

"JUST GET IT OUT OF HERE!"

Wheeljack wanted the noise to stop too so he thought of the quickest way to end the problem.

CRUNCH!

He lifted his foot to and looked forlornly at yet another one of his inventions that again didn't live up to its expectations. With broken pride, Wheeljack picked up the smashed device with two fingers and turned towards Camille.

"I'll uh…see you back at the lab then." And with not another word, he dejectedly left her quarters.

Once the doors shut behind him, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. He always works so hard on his projects, only to have them go wrong almost every time. I say almost because there had been a few inventions of his that were very useful, but only in ways that were completely different from their initial creation purposes. Just then the sound of bare feet came pounding down the corridor outside her room. The doors to her quarters hissed open and Melanie, who was wearing a mischievous grin, came running in. She dove for Camille's unmade bed and threw the blankets over her. Just then the pounding of much bigger feet came to a stop at Camille's still open door.

Knowing quite well what all the excitement was about, Camille disabled the opening mechanism for the Transformer-sized door entrance to her room, in an attempt to protect Melanie from his wrath. Tracks punched the button to open the door, but it didn't budge. I poked my head out of my human sized door and asked innocently.

"May I help you?"

Tracks dropped to one knee and looked absolutely hilarious with the remnants of a 'whip cream beard' still on his face. It was obvious he tried to wipe most of it off.

"Mel. Is Mel in here?"

"Nooooo…" She answered coyly, rolling her eyes."

"Did you see which way she went?" He continued. A little haste in his voice.

"Yeah, she headed towards the med bay." She lied.

And without a reply, he got to his feet and ran off. She watched him till he rounded the corner, then shut the door and spun around and faced her now occupied bed. She quietly tiptoed towards the slightly moving blankets. Then without any warning…

"TICKLEPOUNCE!"

Camille landed on the blankets and felt around for Melanie's sides. Once she located them, the Scots girl screamed and squealed with delight!

"Ahahahahaaaa! Cammy! Stop!"

Then as quickly as she had started, she stopped. She got off the bed and stood beside it with her hands on her hips, like an irritated mother.

"Why did you mess up my bed!?" She shouted.

"It was already messed up! It wasn't even made!" Melanie retorted as she poked her head out from the blankets.

"Touché." Camille replied crossing her arms across her chest.

Her fake farce of being angry soon melted away and a look of amusement then lit up her features.

"I saw Tracks' face. Did you take a picture of him before he woke up? I hope you did."

"Of course! Unfortunately, it was the flash that woke him up."

"Where's the camera now?"

"I stuffed it in my clothes hamper right before I ran out of my room. He won't find it. He never goes in there."

"Cool."

Just then, the room intercom hissed with static.

"_I'm still waiting ladies!"_

Wheeljack's voice filled the room, causing the two girls to leap to their feet.

"We'll be there in two astroclicks!" Camille called back.

Melanie darted for the door, opened it, and then turned to Camille.

"I'll see you there okay?"

"Alright."

Then Camille began to get dressed.

Once the girls arrived at Wheeljack's workshop, they began their duties immediately. Camille started collecting all the burnt and twisted metal shards scattered about the room from his last invention gone wrong. Wheeljack was happy to see that she was able to lift the majority of them safely despite her small size, then turned towards Melanie and watched as she tended to her duty, kneeling in front of a nearby open toolbox and seperating all the small cogs from the larger ones.

"Careful girls, I don't want you within range of the transdimensional wormhole I'm working on, alright?" Wheeljack informed, from behind his workbench. His voice muffled by the chirps and beeps from the equipment around him.

The girls were talking amongst themselves and had completely missed his warning. After cleaning up the burnt shards, Camille went to grab a broom to start sweeping up the smaller pieces. She was sweeping them towards her, backing up as she went, and unkowningly swept right into the range of the wormhole. Melanie then got up and walked toward Camille when a bright flash blinded both girls. Camille dropped her broom, and covered her eyes. Melanie did the same. Then both girls felt something tug at their stomachs from behind. It was like gravity had fluxed and both girls felt like their bodies had bent in strange ways against their will.

When the bright light began to fade, the girls regained their focus and noticed Wheeljack was still bent over behind his workbench. Then suddenly, as if he felt someone watching him, he lifted his head up.

"Hey!" He uttered sharply, startling the girls. "What do ya think you're doin?" He glared at them, his optics an uncharacteristic deep red.

"Get away from that!" He shouted then came out from behind his workbench like a rabbit out of a foxhole.

The girls froze in sudden fear, but were saved when his feet got caught in his own mess, sending him to the floor. They didn't know the reason for his sudden change of attitude, but they soon made a wise decision to run when they saw him begin to pull out his lazer rifle and point it at them. They ran out the door just as he fired a shot. They continued to run down the corridor till they ran face first into the legs of Tracks and Sideswipe. The two bots looked down and picked up the human girls at their feet.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Sideswipe taunted as he eyeballed Camille, with the same strange red optics that Wheeljack had.

"Looks to me like a couple of reckless humans just asking for trouble!" Tracks answered, bringing Melanie close to his face.

"Let's take them to Optimus, he'll know JUST what to do with these little intruders!"

"Hey wait! Put us down!" Melanie shouted.

But before they could question their strange actions, the two bots entered the command bridge and stood before their mighty leader.

"What's the meaning of this interruption?" Optimus thundered and he turned to face them, visibly annoyed.

"Humans, Prime."

The hulking leader walked slowly towards them, thinned his optics and addressed them.

"I do not tolerate humans on my Ark. I don't know how you got in here, but you are NOT staying!"

He turned away from them and started to walk back towards Teletran's monitor.

"So…what are we going to do with them?" Sideswipe asked, eager to learn their fate.

"Just…toss them off a cliff or something."

Both girls gasped at Optimus' order.

The two Autobots left the bridge and started walking in the direction of the main entrance. Once outside, a pretty steep cliff was a couple of meters away. It wasn't too high, but the jagged rocks below would definitely do them in if the drop didn't.

As the Autobots approached the edge of the cliff, they gave the girls their final option.

"Any last requests before I toss you off the cliff to meet your maker?" Sides asked as he suspended Camille in his left hand over the chasm.

"Yes! DON'T! What's the matter with you?"

"What youre talking about?"

"Why are you acting so evil?" She pleaded, begging for an explanation.

"I'm not ACTING evil!" Sideswipe laughed.

"News flash, hot stuff. I AM evil." He whispered to her as he thumbed his chest.

Camille couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Tracks then suspended his hand over the chasm too. He eyed Melanie and asked her the same question.

"And you? What's you're last request?"

"Tracks! It's ME! Melanie! You're little sis! Something's messed up your processor and your not acting like yourself!"

Tracks raised a brow plate.

"No…I think YOU are one who's processor is seriously screwed up." He said as he pointed towards her.

"I don't even KNOW you."

Upon hearing that statement, tears began to stream down Melanie's cheeks.

"Well…you wasted your chance for a last request, but it wasn't like I was gonna give it to you anyway." Tracks huffed.

"PLEASE don't throw us off the cliff!" Camille yelled as a last ditch effort to deter the decision of their captors.

"Nice try, human. But its too late now!" Sideswipe finalized.

The two Autobots looked at each other and opened their hands. The girls slid simultaneously out of their grasp and fell towards the jagged rocks below.

Sideswipe laughed then turned towards his buddy.

"Come on, Tracks. Let's go grab some energon."

And the two unguiltlessly walked back to the Ark.

Camille and Melanie were screaming but managed to grab each other's arms as they descended. The side of the cliff was slightly slanting near the bottom and the girls landed on it, but the angle of it was still causing gravity to pull them closer to their doom. Melanie, noticing a branch pertruding near the end of the ledge they were sliding down, suddenly reached for it, squeezing as hard as she could on Camille's wrist for she knew the pull of her weight and Camille's weight would definitely put strain on the possibly frail branch. It brought them to an abrupt stop causing the jerk snap the branch slightly. To their benefit, it stayed rooted to its spot, but it wasn't gonna hold for long. Melanie looked down at Camille.

"We don't have much time! This branch is gonna snap off completely any second!"

"Well, at least we'll go together!" Camille shouted back to her.

"Before we die, I want you know something…You were the greatest friend I ever had, Cammy!"

"And you were my greatest friend Mel!"

Melanie grunted as she felt the last splinters of the branch about to snap when a metal object cupped them from beneath and then started to ascend into the sky, plucking them from their dire situation. Light blue fingers closed around them, preventing them from possibly falling out. The girls, now realizing they were safe from their fall, looked up to see the face of the Transformer who saved their lives. But when they did, they're eyes met someone they recognized, but it was the last person they would expect to see save them.

"STARSCREAM?!"

He looked down at them with soft, blue optics, and the warmest smile they've ever seen.

"Please don't hurt us!" Camille yelped as she held one of her arms up to protect her head, almost positive he would shoot them with lazers from his eyes at any second.

Melanie threw her arms around Camille's waist from behind and buried her head in Camille's back.

"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you. It's not in my programming to harm humans."

This puzzled the girls even more, and it was then and there that they began to wonder exactly WHERE they were. It obviously wasn't home, because everything was…backwards! Except for them, of course. Then Camille remembered overhearing Wheeljack muttering something about a transdimensional wormhole right before the two of them were temporarily blinded by a bright flash. She then put one and two together, and determined that the bright flash must have been when the transition took place.

She told Melanie this and the two finally understood the reason for the strange events that have been occuring.

"So that's why everything is so…different." Melanie concluded. "We're in an alternate dimension!"

"Okay, we know how we got here, but how do we get home?" Camille questioned.

Melanie pondered for a moment, then had the answer.

"WHEELJACK! If we go back to Wheeljack's workshop, we could use that portal to go back to our own dimension!"

Starscream overheard the conversation and chimed in.

"If that's the case, I'd be more than happy to help you accomplish your task. Let me just radio for some back up."

"You…you mean you're gonna help us?" Camille asked unbelievingly.

"Sure! Why not?"

Starscream then navigated his way back towards the Ark, flying low so he wouldn't be seen. Once he found a good hiding spot behind some shrubbery, he put the girls down near his feet and looked through a gap between two pine trees. The girls mimicked his actions and gazed towards the entrance to the Ark from behind a big boulder. The three of them then notice the entrance was being guarded by a very pissed off looking Ironhide.

"So where's your back up?" Melanie asks as she looks up at the seeker.

"Right behind you." A monotone voice responded.

Melanie swiveled around to see the large legs of Soundwave standing before her. She jumped and was fearful at first, but then she remembered that all was opposite in this parallel universe, and she silently exhaled in relief.

"Ahh…Soundwave, just in time."

Camille continued to eye Ironhide at the entrance, then turned to Starscream.

"So what's your plan for getting in?"

"My plan is this: Soundwave, release Ravage."

Soundwave opened his chest compartment and a black cassette ejected from his chest and transformed into its jaguar mode and landed on the ground, right next to the girls. They thought he would be good too, but they flinched when he began to growl and snarl at them. But Soundwave promptly put them at ease.

"Do not be afraid. He will not hurt you. He's just a little grumpy from being woken from recharge."

The girls relaxed as they watched him sit on his haunches, awaiting his master's next orders.

"He's calmed down now. It's safe to approach him. You can even pet him if you want." He continued.

At first the girls were unsure to even approach him, but when he lowered his head and dimmed his optics, his body language was clearly reading, "pet me". So they did.

Starscream then continued with his plan.

"Soundwave and I will keep Ironhide busy while Ravage sneaks you inside. Once you locate the wormhole, he will be able to activate it for you so you can return to your own dimension!"

"A well-conceived plan." Camille thought aloud.

Then she and Mel turned towards Starscream as he kneeled down before them.

"Thank you for offering to help us." Melanie said as she held out her hand to thank him.

He extended both his hands out to shake theirs. Melanie shook his finger with a smile, while Camille grabbed his entire hand and hugged it lovingly, wishing with all her heart that this Starscream could replace the one in her universe, but she knew that could never be.

Once they said their goodbyes, they initiated stage one of their plan: Distract Ironhide. The two Decepticons rushed the veteran Autobot while Camille and Melanie climbed onto Ravage's back. Once Ironhide's attentions were diverted elsewhere, the cat cunningly stalked past the guard and trotted on towards Wheeljack's workshop.

Once there, the wormhole was easily spotted.

"There it is!" Camille shouted as she and Mel dismounted Ravage.

Once the girls were off of him, he walked towards the activation switch. Everything was going according to plan until Steeljaw suddenly appeared and leapt in front of the wormhole's swirling essence, blocking their escape route.

"Oh no! Now what do we do? We can't fight that thing ourselves!" Melanie shouted.

Ravage, determined to complete his objective to aid the girls' escape, roared ferociously, challenging the lion. Steeljaw then gladly roared back, as if accepting the challenge. They took a few swipes at each other, and even tussled for a moment, but since Steeljaw's alt mode was a lion, and Ravage's was a jaguar, the stronger species stereotypically had the upper hand. Steeljaw keenfully waited for the perfect moment, and then headbutted the jaguar into some storage bins. With Ravage down temporarily, Steeljaw turned and stalked towards the trembling females. They stood by the wormhole entrance, but couldn't enter it until someone re-activated it! With Ravage down, they had no hopes of escape!

Ravage then poked his head out from under the boxes, and watched helplessly as the lion closed in on the girls when suddenly the rift began to open up on its own! But it wasn't activated on their end, it was opening from the other side! Wheeljack's hands suddenly emerged and reached in and swiftly grabbed the girls and brought them back to their dimension. The wormhole promptly closed right behind them and disappeared. Steeljaw leapt for them but missed and went headfirst into the opposite wall. Ravage then recovered, shook his head in an attempt to get his equalibrium back, then ran outside to assist Soundwave and Starscream and to inform them that the girls escaped successfully and unharmed.

Meanwhile, happy to finally be back in their own dimension, the girls were more than thrilled to be home.

"Oh Wheeljack! You'll NEVER believe what happened to us!" Melanie began.

"Oh I got a pretty good idea, I DID create that wormhole myself you know. Bet you two got one heck of a story to tell!" He said as he put them down on the floor next to each other.

"Yup! It's definitely one for the ages! Right Mel?" Camille said as she elbowed Melanie in her side.

"Haha! Yeah! The whole ordeal would make a great story to tell someday, but if we told anybody now, Wheeljack would be in so much trouble with Optimus!" Melanie laughed.

"Yeah. Knowing Prime, he would probably have me dismantled!" Wheeljack joked.

"That would be hilarious! Watching Ratchet take you apart, only to have you blow up in his face just like one of your inventions!"

The whole idea made them all laugh.

Then, right on schedule, Tracks showed up at the workshop to pick up Melanie. Then Sideswipe arrived shortly after for Camille. The girls were picked up by their respective guardians and waved goodbye to each other, then were walked towards their destinations.

Once Sideswipe reached his room, he walked in with Camille still in hand, and shut the door behind him.

Once Tracks had reached his room, he walked in and put Melanie down on his recharge berth and she proceeded to lie down on the bed in a position, much like one would be in when making a snow angel. Upon seeing her in that position, Tracks had a great idea! Now would be the perfect time to get revenge on her for the time she got him to beg for mercy last time she tickled him with the broom. As the unsuspecting Melanie closed her eyes in bliss for finally being home and in the one place she knew she'd always be safe, Tracks took advantage of the situation and slowly reached for the defenseless girl. Though her eyes were closed, she sensed a dark shadow looming over her body. Feeling suspicious, she opened her eyes and saw Tracks' hand hovering inches above her. When he saw her eyes open, he quickly but not roughly put his hand down on top of her, only letting her head, arms and legs stick out. Melanie was totally taken by surprise.

"Hey! Your hands are COLD! What do you think you're doing?"

Tracks only smiled mischievously as he used his free hand to remove her shoes and socks, then he began to tickle Melanie's bare feet.

"Ahahaha! NO! Stop! Tracks! Stop it!"

"Now what makes you think I'd wanna do that?" He gestured as his fingers then moved to the underside of her exposed arms.

"Whoa! Wait! Waaaahhhhh! Stop! Ahahaha! Stop!" She bellowed.

The Autobot didn't comply. The tickling wasn't too bad for Mel, but the fact that she was not able to move because Tracks was holding her down was making it that much worse!

Melanie squirmed furiously, in hopes of loosening his grip, but she knew that tactic was useless, he was a giant robot after all! Tracks continued tickling her arms, then moved to her sides.

"No! Noooooooo! Stop it!" She squealed.

Melanie continued to buck and scream with laughter, occasionally begging him to stop, but Tracks absolutely would NOT give in.

"Bet this will make you think twice before you think of coming in my room with that blasted broom again!"

"I'm sorry! I won't do it again! Just STOP ALREADY!"

After her screeches were beginning to sound hoarse, he finally stopped and released his hand from her. Totally exhausted from screaming, she sat up and looked up at her guardian.

"Boy! You REALLY got me back good! I'm…I'm practically out of breath from screaming!"

"Yeah, I know! I'll bet Primus himself heard your screaming!" He chuckled. The two then got comfortable on the recharge berth and turned out the lights.

"Good night big brother."

Tracks smiled upon hearing this.

"Good night, Kiddo."

Together they continued to giggle in their sleep.

The End


	9. Chapter 9

Hey All,

Sorry for the lack of updates as of late, I was busy the last couple of weeks because I was playing host to my fellow fanfiction writer and good friend, 'Trackster'! Can you believe it? We actually met! In PERSON! It was so cool! Anywho, this chapter is special because it takes place at one of the places we actually went to together! We didn't encounter any Decepticons while we were there thankfully, so I figured I'd leave them out in the story too. I guess you can say this is my first chapter with only cute stuff and no battles, so I hope you enjoy!

**Early Morning Venture **

It was a cool and misty Sunday morning. Sideswipe had set his alarm for precisely 7am. Little did he know he was going to get a very LOUD wake up call! At approximately 7am, his alarm blared at 8 times the normal decibels! It was so loud that his body literally shook as if he was being electrocuted! He knew that he and Tracks had to be up early that day, but he forgot to expect that Camille might have tampered with his alarm, and tried to modify it as a practical joke, which she obviously succeeded in doing. In a panic to silence the audio-receptor piercing noise, Sideswipe quickly rolled over and used his hand to smack the snooze button, but Camille had already thought ahead. He reached as far as he could and managed to silence it, but she had moved it to the corner of the table that was farthest from him and after the noise stopped, he realized there was no more berth beneath him and he landed face first on the floor with a loud thud.

The crash was heard faintly by the mech in the next room over. But luckily it's tenant, Tracks, was already up and pacing around his quarters. He was very excited to visit the place the girls had planned to take them today. But since they would definitely cause a ruckus if seen in public, the girls decided they should take them early in the morning, while it was still closed. Tracks continued to impatiently pace around his room.

"What is taking them so long to get ready?" He wondered.

After one more circle around the room, he stopped and pounded one foot to the ground.

"That's it! I can't wait anymore!"

Suddenly, the sound of his intercom went off and he walked towards it and activated it.

"Mel? Is that you? Are you guys ready?"

"Yup! So hurry up and get your aft over here before it gets any later!" Mel giggled before cutting transmission.

"Any later?! I've been up sin--" Tracks paused.

It took a second for him to realize Mel was no longer on the other end. He sighed in frustration and left his room for Mel's.

Meanwhile, the very shaken Sideswipe managed to get to Mel's room a few seconds after Tracks walked through the door.

"What all this?!" An annoyed Tracks shouted when he saw the girls still in their pajamas playing on the rug with a pile of little rectangular papers with red and black symbols on them.

"It's called Solitaire you big lugnut!" Melanie said with a smile. "It's a game…you play it for fun."

"I've been up and ready since 6am, and all this time you've been playing…GAMES?!"

"Chill out big blue! Look! We've been ready this whole time!" Camille said as she and Mel both threw off their nightgowns at the same time to reveal they were fully dressed underneath and ready to go.

Tracks sighed in relief and put his hand to his forehead. "Thank Primus! So let's go already! The anticipation is killing me!"

"I never knew human femmes could be so much trouble!" Tracks tried to say softly, but unfortunately was still heard.

"Hey! Watch it snob boy!" Melanie joked as she pointed a finger at him.

Tracks and Sideswipe then transformed into their vehicle modes and the girls loaded themselves into their respective guardians, and headed towards their destination. After an easy drive on a very empty freeway, the two Autobots arrived in front of a building that looked big enough that they could stand inside it freely without bumping their heads. They let the girls out and transformed into their robot modes.

"What is this place?" Sideswipe asked curiously.

He knew they were going somewhere different today, but he didn't care where. But now he was definitely interested in the strangely shaped building, and even more interested at what would be found inside.

"Good question Sides 'ol buddy!" Tracks agreed then looked down at the girls.

"You know, from what you two told me about this place last night, it seemed like everything inside was taken from underwater, but strangely, can exist above water just fine."

"Well, you're partially right." Camille responded. "But I'll let you see for yourself!"

She walked up to the automatic doors and put her hand against it and pushed. It didn't budge. So she turned towards Tracks.

"You know I could use a little help getting inside."

"Oh sure, no problem." And with that Tracks shot a beam of light from one of his shoulder mounted missiles and it shorted out the electrical currents in the door allowing them to easily push them open to allow the boys inside.

They transformed to car mode and drove through the rectangular entrance, and transformed back to robot mode once inside. Once changed back, the two stared up at the huge fake animal hanging from the ceiling.

"Wooooow. What is that?" Sides asked as he stood there with his head craned all the way back with his mouth hanging open like a little kid in awe.

"It's a whale!" Melanie shouted.

"I thought the largest animal on this planet was an elephant!" Tracks commented as he gazed at the big grey fish-looking creature hanging from the ceiling.

"Nope! THIS one's the biggest!" Camille said proudly.

"But isn't this a fish?" Sideswipe asked puzzled.

"Believe it or not, it isn't! A whale is a mammal and it breathes air like we do, and it doesn't lay eggs like fish do, its has it's babies through live birth like us!" She continued.

"Ewww…TMI!" Sides commented covering his audio receptors.

"Amazing!" Tracks whispered as they continued to walk and admire all the nearby tanks with various types of sea creatures swimming happily inside them.

When the corridor got a little tight, the boys transformed back to car mode and continued to follow the girls through the tight passages. They continued till they reached another set of doors that led outside. Tracks again disabled the mechanisms, then the four of them proceeded outside. Once free of the low ceiling, the boys transformed back to robot mode again. There was a netted area to their left where an annoying chirping chorus was going on like a summer concert.

Tracks covered his audio receptors. "What is that annoying sound?"

"It's birds! Come on, lets go inside!" Camille said as she waved them over.

"Wait Cammy! What if some fly away?" Mel asked concerned.

"It's okay, we can flush them to the other end of the aviary so the boys can lift up the net without any of them escaping!"

"Oh okay!" So Mel and Camille waved their hands and did their best to herd the rainbow colored birds to the back of the netted area.

Once all was clear, Tracks lifted up the net and Sideswipe crawled under. Once inside, he sat Indian style on the floor in the middle of the pen and the birds started to fly towards him. Soon the entire flock was chirping and flying and landing all over his armor.

"Haha! Cool! This is so awesome!" Sideswipe pointed his finger and one of them instantly landed on it. "What are these things called anyway?" He asked.

"They're called Lorikeets." Camille answered. "And something tells me they're attracted to red! Haha!"

Melanie enjoyed the scene as well, but turned towards Tracks who was watching cautiously from outside the net.

"What's wrong big brother? Don't you want to see the birds up close too?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" He blurted out as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Mel was puzzled. "Why not?"

"Those little devils are the reason why I have to get my auto chassis washed so much! NO thank you!"

"Oh for heavens sake! You're such a big baby!" Melanie said as she put her hand on the side of her head closed her eyes and smiled.

After a failed attempt to get Tracks involved with the birds, the girls decided it was time to move on. The shark tanks were next on the agenda. The 4 of them marveled at the swift and deadly predators.

"Wow. If my body was that streamlined, I'd probably move even faster than I do now!" Sides commented.

"True, but you'd only be faster if you were underwater." Camille corrected.

"Oh yeah. Bummer." Sideswipe grumbled.

Tracks didn't seem too interested in the sharks, but when one of them started to swim towards Mel in a quick fashion, Tracks sprung into defense mode and quickly plucked Melanie from the floor and brought her up to his eye level.

"Hey! What are you doing? I wanna see the sharks!"

"That one was heading right for you!" Tracks warned.

"But he's behind glass! He can't get me!" She complained. "Honestly Tracks…"

"Well…you can never be too careful, you know?" The overprotective brother concluded.

"Then you must have a 'careful' disease or something! Now can you put me down please and just enjoy yourself?"

"Well…alright."

After he put her back down, he turned to look around to see what else there was to look at. The creatures in the nearby shallow tank immediately got his attention. He walked towards them curiously.

"What are those things? They look like black area rugs that can swim!"

Camille turned around and skipped towards Tracks who was now standing over the shallow tank.

"Those are called rays." She told him.

Sideswipe suddenly got offensive. "RAYS?! WHERE?" He blurted out as he started charging his laser at the gentle creatures. "Those monsters were the ones that killed that funny Australian Crocodile guy! Lemme at 'em!"

"NO! Those were stingrays! These are just innocent manta rays!" Camille shouted as she jumped in front of the tank and flailed her arms about in an attempt to protect the poor creatures.

"Oh." He said as he powered down his laser, his anger subsiding.

"Really Sides, you're too jumpy sometimes!" Camille commented.

"But you like it when I get the jump on you!" He laughed as he poked her in her side. "Right?"

"Well…yeah." Camille blushed.

"Hey what are those things?" Sideswipe's attention on Camille was instantly diverted to the black and slimy barking creatures in a quite larger tank nearby.

Tracks and Melanie followed the very excited Sideswipe to the tank and laughed when Sideswipe dunked his head in the water to get a better view.

"Now these look like interesting creatures!" Tracks noted.

"Yup. They're called Sea Lions." Melanie said.

"Sea LIONS? Really? They don't look like the lions I've seen. Where's their mane and fuzzy tails?"

Melanie laughed. "Hahaha! Oh Tracks, you're so silly!"

"What?" Tracks asked confusedly.

Sideswipe pulled his head from the tank and looked down at Camille.

"Wow! These creatures are so cool!"

"Hey! Watch where you're dripping!" Camille shouted as she covered her head and ran out from beneath him.

"Sorry Cam." He apologized.

Melanie was getting hungry and walked over to an ice cream booth and took out two chocolate-dipped vanilla bars, but left some cash on it to signify that they paid for it.

"Here Cammy!" Mel said as she handed her the ice cream bar.

"Yum! Thanks Mel!" She said as she took it and unwrapped it.

After her first bite, Camille had an idea. When the boys had sat down to take a breather while the girls ate their ice cream, she managed to sneak away and started to climb to a higher area. Melanie was watching her friend as she climbed and knew exactly what she was planning to do. Once she was over Tracks' head, she let some of her vanilla drip on him! It was perfect shot! As soon as it hit his head, Melanie made the announcement.

"Tracks? What's that white stuff on your head?"

Immediately Tracks hand reached up and found the slimy substance.

"Oh no! One of those winged devils has done it again!" He grumbled.

"Relax Tracks! It's just ice cream!" Camille shouted from up above him.

"Oh great. Nice one, Camille. When are you two ever gonna leave me and my clean armor in peace?"

The girls rolled their eyes. Then Melanie spoke.

"Oh I don't know, how about when you stop being such a SNOB! Hahaha!"

"Oh that's IT!" Tracks shouted as he reached above him and plucked Camille from her perch.

Then he turned and reached around to grab her partner-in-crime.

"You two are in SO much trouble!" He laughed as he held them both down with one hand.

Then he used his free hand to tickle their exposed sides. The girls then both started to laugh and squirm.

"Ahahaha! No! Stop Tracks!" one shouted. "Please haha! Stop it big brother!" the other screamed.

"Sideswipe! Help me! Your my guardian! DO something!"

Sideswipe just sat back in a more relaxed position.

"Sorry Cammy. That prank was pretty harsh. I gotta side with Tracks on this one. You girls deserved it!" He laughed.

"Oh you TRAITOR! I'm SO gonna get you back for this when we get home!" She threatened as she laughed uncontrollably.

Once Tracks finally let up on the tickling, the girls got up and composed themselves.

"Whoa! Check out the time! It's almost time for the Aquarium to open!"

"You're right!" said Mel. "We better get going!"

"Awww…do we have to?" Sideswipe whined.

"Yes. But don't worry, we'll come back and see it another time." Camille reassured him.

And with that, the two girls loaded their guardians and the four of them hit the road back to the Autobot base. There was luckily no 'Con activity this time around, probably because of the early morning hour, but the Autobots knew that next time, they might not be so lucky.


	10. Chapter 10

Alright, here's my next chappy. Enjoy!

**Surprise Attack!**

One afternoon while setting up some Decepticon-tracking sensors on the nearby cliffs around the Autobot base, Tracks, Sideswipe, Camille and Melanie rapped about the weather.

Camille halted from her duties when a cold breeze pierced her cheek. She pulled her hood over her head and repositioned her hands on some cables.

"Seems like we're gonna have a really chilly autumn this year."

Melanie wiped the sweat from her brow. "What makes you say that?"

"Don't know. It just seems seasonally cooler than usual that's all."

"Well I for one, hope it doesn't get worse anytime soon." Tracks began. "The last thing I need is for it to rain, especially since I just got this new coat of wax applied."

Melanie rolled her eyes.

Tracks turned towards her, catching her action through the corner of his optic.

"Now what was that for?"

"What?" She asked innocently.

"You rolled your eyes at me!"

She held back a smile. "No I didn't."

"Yes you did! I sa—" He doesn't finish his sentence as an approaching humming noise soon grabs his attention.

As if out of nowhere, the sound of laser fire erupts heavily upon them from above. The aerial culprits are none other than the infamous trio of seekers we all love to hate.

"It's an ambush!" Sideswipe yelled. "Get the girls outta here!"

As the barrage rains down upon them, Starscream succeeds in picking a few clean shots off of poor Sideswipe and he temporarily goes down, leaving Camille open for attack.

Camille watches in horror as Sideswipe limply goes headfirst into the dirt.

"SIDESWIPE!!!" She screams.

"Mel! Get out of here! Run for cover!" Tracks yells as Thundercracker's shots rip up the dirt behind her feet as she flees.

Seeing that Sideswipe was now down, Tracks temporarily takes over as guardian and tries to protect Camille. He stands in front of her and fires mercilessly upon the circling seekers above his head.

"Camille! Don't move, stay behind me!" He shouted.

But the darn fraggers' aerial acrobatics proved why Megatron chose them to be his best aerial forces.

It was then that Tracks noticed they were actually luring him away from the battle. They were just a distraction so that Starscream could go after Melanie! Realizing his mistake, he stops firing for a moment and quickly ushers Camille away with his hands.

"Camille, I want you to go and hide between those two large rocks over there."

"But what about Sideswipe! I HAVE to get to him!" She said as she fought to get through his pushing hands.

"Worry about him later. They're after _you two_ so you have to hide. I'll do my best to get to him, but I got to help Mel!"

Starscream starts to take a nosedive towards a still-exposed and unprotected Melanie. She stops running and turns to see the seeker heading straight for her.

Tracks runs towards her and feels his spark wrench with guilt when her scream reached his audio receptors. How could he forget to keep her priority? She should NEVER have to feel such extreme fear! 'What kind of guardian am I?' He thought to himself.

With the dive-bombing Decepticon quickly closing in, Tracks leapt just in time to catch Starscream in mid air before he got to Mel, devastatingly altering his flight path. He constricted his arms tightly around the air commander's jet form, doing everything he could to prevent him from transforming and upping the odds in the Decepticons' favor. Since it was now 3 against 1, he had to somehow keep an advantage.

"Let go of me you disgusting Autobot!" He snarled. "Help me you fools!"

Thundercracker noticed his commander hindered by their mutual foe and decides to fly down and give him a hand.

Meanwhile, the third of the trine lands out of sight and deviously sneaks up on Camille who was still in standing in her not-so-safe hiding place. She watches in disbelief as Thundercracker peels Tracks off of Starscream, allowing him to transform, and then the two Decepticons leap on top of him and start to wrestle.

Just then, Camille's unseen hunter, Skywarp, teleports behind her. He slinks his hands through the boulders and then snatches her.

"GOTCHA!"

"Aaahhhh!" She screams, as she was completely unaware of his presence.

Pleased by his catch, he calls to his comrades.

"Yo TC! Screamer! I got one of the humans that Megatron wants!" He proclaimed proudly, showing them his catch in his hands.

"Our mission is already half-finished now! HA! Thanks to yours truly!" He gloats.

Upon hearing this, Thundercracker and Starscream leave the battered Tracks behind and close in on the rambunctious Melanie.

"Don't you _dare_ touch me!" She shouted, anger clearly visible in her voice, and not to mention in her menacing blue eyes.

Thundercracker ignores her threat and reaches down and picks her up by the waist, leaving her arms completely free. She doesn't make things easy for him as she uses a free arm to grab a sharp rock she finds on the ground, then uses it to gouge a deep gash into his hand.

"OWW!!!" He yelps and immediately releases her from his grasp but is quickly and unfortunately recovered by Starscream.

"You IDIOT!" He shouts as he scolds his subordinate "You KNOW you should **never** capture a human while leaving its arms free, hence the possibility of something like that happening."

He then showed him the correct way to hold one, with Melanie's arms pinned at her sides underneath his fingers.

"THIS is how you do it." He demonstrated, and gave her a rough little squeeze in the process.

"Ahh!" She yipped as the tightening of his fingers pinched her skin.

Tracks, who was only a few feet away, desperately crawled towards them.

"Stop it! D-don't hurt her!" He weakly calls out as he grasps one of Thundercracker's leg thrusters. The seeker notices the Autobot clamping onto his feet and easily flicks his leg free.

"Some guardians you are." Starscream taunts as they back away with the girls and prepare to depart. "Thanks for the easy catch, Autogeeks! Hahahaha!"

The seekers then all laugh together then take off for the sky, heading in a southern direction.

Slowly, Tracks struggles to get to his feet. Then he jogs over to Sideswipe's face down body. He grabs his side and rolls him onto his back. He was happy to see that Starscream had just stunned him. He was knocked out, but Track was still relieved to see the self-repair systems already starting to heal his buddy's wounds.

In a panic, Sideswipe quickly comes out of it, sits up and grabs Tracks' arms.

"The girls! Where are they? The Decepticons took them didn't they! Tracks, we- we gotta find um!"

Tracks comfortingly puts a hand on Sideswipe's shoulder.

"Hey Sides, relax. I managed to place a tracker on Thundercracker's leg right before they took off."

Sideswipe's facial features relaxed immediately.

"Really? Great! Now we've got a trail to follow!"

Tracks then transformed to vehicle mode. "C'mon Red, let's go get our girls back!"

"Right behind ya!" He yelled back as he transformed too and peeled out behind Tracks.

The two then headed south, following the tracking beacon that Tracks had planted. While on the way there, Tracks thought it would be a good idea to radio Prime with an update of the whole incident.

"Prime, come in."

"I'm here Tracks, report."

"We got a little problem. You see, while we were trying to set up the Con' tracking beacons, we were ambushed and the girls got captured by Starscream and his seekers."

"WHAT?"

"Don't worry though, Sides and I are pursuing them as we speak. I managed to get a tracking device on Thundercracker. But I have a request."

"A request?"

"Yes. The Decepticon tracking beacons MUST be set up as soon as possible! We will need them functional so it will alert the Autobots ahead of time to ward off our aerial attackers upon our return. Can you see to it that it's completed?"

"Yes. I will get the off duty Autobots to get started on it right away."

"Thanks, Prime. I will keep radio silence until we're close."

"Affirmative. Prime out."

When the radar on Tracks' dash begins to beep erratically, the two stop and decide to go the rest of the way on foot, so they are not heard or found out. They soon detect energy surges coming from a power plant nestled in a small nearby canyon. They move in closer and soon spot the Decepticons breaking into it, no doubt checking for energy they could steal.

Upon closer scrutiny, they are relieved to discover that the girls were safe and unharmed, just dumped in a small fenced area lined with barbed wire, along with a dangerous active electric generator in the middle. Eager to get them out before they get electrocuted, Sideswipe runs headfirst into the fray. Tracks, the more sensible of the two, grabs his arm before he gets very far, and pulls him back.

"Wait! The Decepticons probably think that we're still hurt. Why don't we try to get the girls when they aren't looking?"

Sideswipe thinks it over, then silently nods.

The two fall back and use the large canyon rocks as cover. While Tracks attentively watches for any sign of Decepticons, Sideswipe crawls toward their cage prison and makes a soft whistling sound to get the girls' attention. With looks of absolute joy on their faces, they race toward him as he carefully lifts up the fence which allows the girls to crawl out to safety.

Happy to be back under the safety of their guardians, the girls embrace their heroes.

"Boy are we glad to see you guys!" Mel spoke as she ran towards Tracks' leg and embraced it.

"About time too! My hair was starting to accumulate with static!" Camille joked.

"Hey! I got more hair than you, mine was clearly in more danger of the static!" Mel quickly shot back.

"Girls, please! Now's not the time for this. You can bicker bout your fur-tops later."

"IT'S CALLED HAIR!" They both shouted at him in unison.

"Alright, hair! I got it. Now let's roll!" Tracks said as he put Melanie on his shoulder.

"Wait Tracks! I don't remember seeing a road out of this canyon when we flew over, how'd you guys get here?" Mel asked.

"We came on foot." Sides answered for the both of them.

"Then I guess we're gonna have to leave the same way we came." Tracks interjected. "It's gonna be a gamble, and its gonna be dangerous, but it's the only option we've got. We better get started."

The girls agreed then climbed and hung tightly onto the shoulders of their Autobot guardians as they began to scale the dangerous cliff.

Meanwhile, the Decepticons continue to ravage the station. Skywarp, now bored with his duties, decides to glance at the cage that held their prisoners, only to see that its occupants were gone!

"Ah oh." He says nervously.

"What is it now, Skywarp?" Starscream snaps as he pauses from his demolishing.

"Looks like the humans have escaped."

"WHAT?!" He rushed to look for himself. "You idiots! I swear there's not a brain cell between you two! How could they escape? They were caged! And those Auto-dorks were beyond repair, so it couldn't have been them!"

His anger soon dissipated at the possible thought of the two Autobots coming to look for their wards. Then his optics thinned.

"Scan the area. They couldn't have gone far!"

The two seekers immediately obey. Then Starscream starts to scan the area too, and spots the Autobots first, climbing up the steep cliff face, almost reaching the top.

"I don't believe it." He whispers to himself, astonished at the Autobots' determination, despite their desperate need for repairs.

"AFTER THEM!" He screams in frustration as he shakes a finger towards them. "Megatron wants those humans alive!"

The seekers forget all about the power plant for the moment and all transform into jet mode and head for the sitting duck Autobots dangling from the cliffside.

Aware of their being spotted, Tracks and Sideswipe quickly rush to get to the top of the cliff. Once there, they put the girls safely on the ground and transform into their vehicle modes.

"Hurry! Get in!" Tracks shouts.

The girls obey just as the edge of the Cliffside is then blown to bits only seconds after they drive away.

Racing with all their might to get back to the base before they're fired upon, Sideswipe thinks of a plan.

"Hold tight you guys, I've got a plan to keep us safe until we get closer to Autobot headquarters."

"A plan? What kind of plan?" Camille asked.

"You'll see!" Sideswipe replied. "Looks like it's time to show off some of our fancy driving big blue!"

"You got it, Red. Let's do this!"

They peel out and drive erratically all over the desert landscape. Swerving left and right, but still keeping their main destination in mind. They give the Decepticons one heck of a time as they try to lock on with their lasers, only to fail repeatedly. But soon the Con's become keen to their patterns, and start to close in.

With the base less than a mile away, the Decepticons finally succeed in locking onto both of their targets, as the excessive driving drained most of the Autobot's energon reserves.

"Tracks! You're slowing down!" Melanie noticed when her ride got a little bumpy.

"I know. My energon reserves are low."

'I hope the others managed to put up those sensors in time.' He thought to himself.

Starscream comes in low behind Sideswipe again, eager for another chance to send the cocky Autobot to the pit.

"Now your mine!" He whispers to himself.

He locks on and is about to fire when they unexpectedly get fired upon first!

"What the?!"

The Decepticon sensors that the other Autobots managed to put up while they were gone alerted a handful of newly installed defense turrets to fire at the airborne enemies. The girls and their Autobots cheered as the Decepticons were forced to retreat.

Once inside the base, Optimus Prime and Ironhide were waiting for them.

"I'm relieved to see that all of you are safe." Optimus declared.

"Thanks for setting up the Decepticon sensors so quickly!" Tracks thanked him as he shook his hand.

Sideswipe chimed in. "Yeah! I mean, if it wasn't for those turrets, we would of never made it!"

Optimus put his hand on Ironhide's shoulder.

"Then I guess you have Ironhide to thank for that. It was _his_ idea to install defense turrets along with the sensors."

"Typical Ironhide, _always_ thinking with his guns." Camille joked.

"Aww shucks!" He replies while rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

Optimus, Tracks and Sideswipe all laugh. Melanie then stood up on Tracks' shoulder.

"There's something I'd like to say." She announced.

"What's that?" Optimus asked.

"When I was in danger, Tracks here abandoned me and ran to Camille's aid, and because of that, I was nearly impaled by Starscream! Now according to my rules, the punishment for an insubordinate guardian, is a TICKLEPOUNCE!"

"Aww no!"

"And it looks like its time to take your punishment!" She then slides down and clamps herself to his hood, and uses her free hand to tickle him relentlessly.

The others looked on and laughed at the adorable scene.


	11. Chapter 11

**Escapees in Peril**

I happily skipped down the hall towards Melanie's room. But along the way, I was halted when an enormous foot landed right in front of me, blocking my path. It was red, so I had a pretty good idea who it belonged to.

"Aren't you supposed to be on surveillance duty right now?" I questioned him without looking up.

"Yeah but, aren't I allowed to visit my favorite human one more time before I do?"

I smiled as he placed his finger under my chin and tilted my head up.

"Nice comeback, Sides." I blushed. "But seriously, you better go before—"

"_Sideswipe! Get your metal-plated hide up here right now!" _A cowboy-sounding voice yelled through his communicator. So loud that even _I_ heard it.

"Sounds like Ol' Ironhide wants to get off his shift as soon as possible!" Sides laughed.

I started to shove at the foot in front of me. "So you better not keep him waiting!"

"But…wait! What are you planning to do today?"

"Me? Uh…probably just hang out with Mel in her room."

"Oh...okay. Well, I'll see ya after my shift!"

I waved as my guardian sprinted from my sight in the direction of the command bridge. When I reached Melanie's room, I could hear voices conversing from within. I wasn't usually the nosy type, but for some reason I was feeling mischievous, so I eavesdropped. When I placed my ear against the door, I could hear Melanie giving Tracks the same story I had just given Sideswipe. Suddenly the voices unexpectedly ceased, and the door slid open, causing me to clumsily stumble through them.

"I_ thought _I detected a heat signature." Tracks announced as he removed his finger from the door opening mechanism. "So Camille, according to Mel, you guys are planning on just lazing about in her room today, am I right?"

I nodded agreeingly.

"Since Sides and I both have duty today, there will be no one available to watch you so...you two better _stay_ _out_ of trouble!"

"No problem big brother!" Mel smiled as she saluted him like a solider.

He turned and walked out of the room. When the door shut, our eyeballs locked on one another and a mischievous smile adorned our faces. "Alright! We're unsupervised!" Mel shouted.

"Not so loud!" I whispered. "What if we're being monitored right now?"

"Unlikely Cammy, Now come on, let's get out of here!" Melanie waved me over and I followed her out of her room.

We had decided a while back that we were going to sneak out if there was ever a time that both Sides and Tracks had monitor duty. And today was the day. Our only problem, trying to get out without being seen.

We slinked down the first hall with no problem. The second hall was a breeze, not one Autobot in sight. As we turned down the last hall towards the Ark's entrance, everything was going perfect until-

"Hey guys! Going somewhere?"

Mel and I froze.

We turned to see who had caught us, but were relieved to see that it was only Bumblebee. Luckily for us, he had a soft spot for us girls, so we were going to use that to our advantage to avoid getting sent back to our rooms. I winked at Mel and she immediately put her hands over her lower abdomen.

"oooohh…" She moaned.

"What's wrong Melanie?" He asked concerned, then noticed the placement of her hands. "Oh, girl stuff huh?"

"Yeah, just trying to walk it off." She answered, voice sounding as if she was struggling to speak.

"That's too bad. Wish there was something I could do."

"There is actually!" I interjected. "The Med Bay's got pain pills. If you want to help out, why don't you go bring us some? We'll wait _right_ here. Please Bee? Pleeeeeeease?"

"Oh uh…sure. Okay."

We stood innocently as we watched him walk away, and before he even turned the corner, we were already running for the nearby brush outside. We dove inside a comfortable-looking bush and giggled like little schoolgirls.

"We're finally out! This is so exciting!" Mel stated.

"Hee hee! Yeah! Now let's go hunt down some Decepticons!"

We continued to crawl from bush to bush, doing our best not to be seen. When we were about a mile out, distant voices soon made us stop for a moment.

"I want you to keep watch here. We don't want the enemy to find out what we're planning."

We figured it was some Autobot scouts patrolling the area, but their topics and deep voices made us think otherwise.

I poked my head out of the bush and felt my heart freeze. The menacing frame of the Decepticon leader Megatron stood before us, but only his back was visible, as he was busy giving orders to his other two accomplices. I know I had said I wanted to hunt some Decepticons, but I wasn't serious!

"I don't see why Soundwave can't keep watch here instead of me." Starscream complained. "He'd be perfect for it since he's always so silent and observant."

Soundwave turned to Starscream as he complained about him, but said nothing.

"Brilliant deduction, Starscream!" Megatron slowly clapped for him mockingly. "But I'd still prefer it to be you. I'm hoping your annoying yapping will bring the Autobots here, that way _they_ can have the job of putting you out of your misery, and save me the trouble of doing it myself!"

Starscream crossed his arms over his chest and turned away, disgusted.

When Megatron shuffled his foot slightly in our direction, I quickly pulled my head into the bush, making the leaves rustle just a bit too loud. I could see by his shadow that Megatron had now turned his head in our direction. I sat there completely still with my eyes closed and my hands over my ears.

Melanie crawled over on her hands and knees and was just about to scold me for being so noisy but the sound of approaching footfalls made her freeze where she stood. Her eyes looked up, and a cold, metal hand violently penetrated the bushes and closed around her.

"Aaahh!!" She shrieked.

I felt the rush of the wind as she was swiped away, but I stayed still, praying that I wouldn't be discovered also.

"These wretched humans, their pestilence has become somewhat of a nuisance to me." The Decepticon leader bellowed as he eyed the human female in his hand.

Starscream's eyes lit up. He recognized the girl from their last scrimmage with the Autobots by her long ponytail.

"Megatron! That's one of the human pets that live with the Autobots!" He said as he pointed a finger at her.

Megatron scrutinized her and smiled. "Well! What great fortune it was that you've come across _us_! Now we can order Optimus Prime to surrender in exchange for your safety!"

Melanie eyed him with bitter hate.

Starscream looked beyond Megatron at his feet at the bush he had just extracted her from, then started to approach it.

"And where there's one…" He shoved his hand inside and soon fished me out.

"There's another."

I grunted, trying my best to push open his fingers to get myself free.

"Excellent, Starscream! It appears you're not so useless after all!"

The Air Commander just rolled his eyes.

"Soundwave, return to the Nemesis. Prepare a cell for our _guests_."

"As you command." The Communications officer replied, then took off for the sky.

The moment Soundwave was out of view, a laser clipped Megatron in the shoulder. The Decepticon leader looked at his body's damage and just frowned.

"Who dares fire upon me?"

Just then, Tracks leaps out from behind some trees holding two laser rifles, one in each hand.

"I do. Now put her down, Megatron."

"Or you'll what?"

"Don't make me show you." He threatened, one rifle pointing directly at Megatron's chest, and the other one at the ready, pointing towards the sky.

As I gazed upon Tracks, I noticed something. He had this look in his optics that I had never seen before. He looked…dangerous! All the time I've even known him, he's never looked that serious before! One thing was for certain, it really showed how seriously he took his job of being Melanie's guardian.

Which led me to the thought of my own guardian. If Tracks was alerted that we were out here, I was almost positive Sideswipe would be out here too. And sure enough, there he was out of the corner of my eye, behind some cover, mouthing the words: "magnet bomb."

Thank goodness my arms were not constricted as I slyly reached into the sleeve of my shirt, pulling out a round disc with a red button on top of it. Another little invention miracle thanks to Wheeljack. I smacked the button and called to my captor.

"Yo! Starscream!" I shouted. "Catch!"

I threw the disc at his face which magnetically stuck there upon impact. In an instant, the magnetic pulse warped his processor, causing his motor functions to completely freeze. Sideswipe took that opportunity and rushed him, knocking him to the ground and easily opening Starscream's fingers to pluck me free.

Megatron heard the commotion, and turned to see what it was. Without holding back, Tracks fired. Again and again.

It's true that no simple rifle would bring down the powerful Decepticon leader, but he would surely need some repair time thanks to the number Tracks was doing to his armor.

Using his forearm to block some of the shots, the mighty Decepticon leader amazed us all as he fell to one knee. Sideswipe started running towards him, but Megatron heard him coming. He released Melanie from his hands and retreated into the sky. Starscream, who had finally broke free of the magnetic disruptor, shook his head and focused his vision, just in time to see his leader retreating yet again. Not wanting to be left to deal with those Autobots by himself, he transforms into jet mode and follows his leader.

Sideswipe reaches down and picks up Melanie.

"How'd you know we were out here?" She asked him.

"Bumblebee. We decided to take a quick break to check on you guys and when we bumped into him, he said he was on his way to the Med Bay to get you some pain pills, right then and there, we knew you two had escaped."

Tracks starts to walk towards us, again with that very serious look on his face. I knew we were in trouble, and I'm sure Mel knew it too.

"I know I don't have to say anything to you two, as I'm sure you've already learned a valuable lesson from all this."

"Yes big brother." Melanie uttered, as she reluctantly climbed from Sideswipe's hand into Tracks' open palm as he brought it up to her to jump onto.

"Now not another word on the subject. Let's get back to the base, and if anyone asks, you two were in your rooms _all_ day!"

When we arrived back at our rooms, I was sure we were going to be grounded or something. But luckily for me, Sideswipe was not the punishing type. Melanie on the other hand was not so lucky, Since Tracks was the one who was more uptight about rules, she was definitely going to get the worst punishment ever!

Melanie sat on Tracks' berth, shaking nervously. Tracks had told her to stay there till he came back, and the whole time she waited, she was on pins and needles. When Tracks finally returned, she eyed him with great fear.

"Okay kiddo, assume the position."

"What?!"

"I'm gonna tickle you as punishment for disobeying me."

"You're not serious? Are you?"

"Quite. Now turn around."

Melanie remembered my actions from earlier and decided to use them to her advantage.

"Oh I don't think so, Tracks."

"What do you mean _you don't think so_? You're _gonna_ get tickled for your crime!"

"No…YOU are!"

Melanie reached under her sleeve, activated, and flung her magnetic disc at his chest, rendering him immobile the moment it stuck there. The minute he hit the floor on his back she dove for him, sticking her little fingers in all his little crevices making him wail for mercy.

"Hahahaha! Why you sneaky little-! Haha! Kiddo! Stop! Oh you are so gonna get it when this thing wears off!"

"When this thing wears off, I'm gonna be _miles_ from here!" She joked.

The two continued to laugh and giggle, obvious that only one of them was being punished that night, and it definitely wasn't Melanie!


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry for leaving such a big gap between my stories, I have been unemployed since January and it's been hard for me. But for those who have been hoping for an update, this one's for you! Thanx for being such loyal fans!

**To Every Action, a Consequence**

The bright orange entrance hallways of the Ark were greeted by the warm spring sun as it rose over the craggy mountaintops. The Ark's night watchman, who was supposed to be ever so vigilant, woke with a start when a large cluster of birds flew overhead chirping madly.

"Whoa! I must've accidentally fell into recharge. Glad no one was here to see it." He told himself.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." A deep, thunderous voice spoke from behind him.

"SIR! I…" he began as he spun around, but the Autobot leader did not alter his expression or his stance.

"We all know the consequences for falling into recharge while on duty. I'm sorry but you are going to have to be punished accordingly for your actions."

The frightened Autobot wondered why his leader spent only a second of his time scolding him, but quickly jumped to the topic of his punishment, then after running a quick review of today's duties and tasks for all the other Autobots, he figured out why.

"No…please…not that…anything but _that _punishment!"

-----------

Melanie secretly approached her guardian as he was examining himself in a somewhat reflective surface. She used two fingers and slid them down his leg. Tracks felt the heat of her fingers.

"What are you up to kiddo?"

"Have you ever thought of changing your paint job to a forest green?" She said.

"Absolutely not! I happen to like being blue. I just love the way the sun and the moonlight reflect off my color and I'm _not_ planning on changing that."

Sideswipe and Camille suddenly appeared in the open doorway of Tracks and Melanie's quarters. Camille was perched precariously on his shoulder. He reached up with his right hand and she jumped into it. He then put her delicately on the floor.

Sideswipe kneeled down by the girls. "Alright you two, we're leaving for our special assignment now." "So make sure you obey your babysit—uhh…your caretaker. Okay?"

Camille and Melanie just smiled back in silence. The two were standing next to each other, both with their hands behind their backs.

"Kiddo, I mean it." Tracks began. "If I hear one negative peep about your behavior, you're gonna get it!"

Just then, Sunstreaker reluctantly came through the doorway.

"Reporting for duty…" he stated while saluting his fellow Autobots, his expression far from pleasant.

"Hey Bro!" Sideswipe said in a very exaggerative tone. "So _you're_ the one Prime caught napping while on the job! I was wondering who was going to get the babysitting gig today." He stifled a laugh.

Tracks approached the door then turned around. "We better get going. C'mon Sideswipe let's go."

Sideswipe followed him out the door, but stuck his head in the room one last time and shouted, "Have a good time ladies!"

The minute the door had closed; the girls had walked up to Sunstreaker and stopped right at his feet, still with creepy smiles on their faces. Sunstreaker looked down at them and could sense something was afoot.

With a quick flick of her wrist, Melanie had chucked her last magnet bomb at him, and it quickly adhered itself to his leg, rendering him immobile and helpless. He hit the ground with a loud thud. Melanie's job was done, now it was Camille's turn. She pulled out from behind her back, a paint can in one hand, and two paint brushes in the other. And not once did her smile ever leave her face.

"What are you gonna do?!" Sunstreaker asked nervously.

"Well, Sideswipe said for us to have a good time, and that's _exactly _what we plan to do!"

The paint can was then opened, and each girl took a paint brush.

"Are you _kidding_ me? That's paint! PAINT!" he shouted.

After dipping their brushes into it, they approached the helpless mech.

"Don't worry. It's water-based." Camille stated.

Then the two started to paint pretty pictures all over any available yellow space on the poor Autobot.

"Aaaahh! Stop! STOP! I can feel it getting into my crevices!" Sunstreaker yelled as he tried to move, but the magnet bomb had held him at bay.

The girls giggled and laughed as they worked on their masterpiece for the next hour or so.

When Tracks and Sideswipe had returned, they walked in to see the girls standing over a terrified Sunstreaker, streaked from head to toe in a beautiful forest green.

Tracks was dumbfounded.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF PRIMUS IS GOING ON IN HERE?"

Sideswipe again held back a laugh and tried to keep face.

"Guys! At last! Help me!" Sunstreaker pleaded, his voice broken.

In an instant, Tracks had removed the magnet bomb and pulled him to his feet. The girls collected their tools of torture and backed away. He looked at Sunstreaker's new paint job, and then turned to eye the girls.

"And you wonder why nobody wants to watch you!" he scolded. "C'mon Sunny, let's get you to the showers."

He swiveled his head around at Melanie. "And when I get back, _you_ are going to get what's coming to you, young lady!"

When Tracks and Sunny were out of the room, Camille spoke.

"That sure was a slick way to get back at him! She stated just a bit too loud. Sideswipe tried waving his hands at her silently, in an effort to make her stop but she continued spilling his beans. "If it wasn't for you giving him those sedatives in his energon right before his shift, he never would have gotten in trouble in the first place!"

The footsteps going down the hall suddenly halted.

"He did WHAT?!" Sunstreaker shouted.

"Oops." Was all Camille could say after that.

Sunstreaker could be heard running full sprint towards the room, but Sideswipe transformed into car mode and drove swiftly through his legs the minute he reached the doorway.

"I'm gonna get you for this bro!" He shouted.

He was just about to transform and follow him, but he realized he had another agenda he had to take care of first. "RIGHT AFTER I wash this off!"

The girls giggled madly at their work of art, standing outside their doorway.

"Hey Sunny, nice paint job! Forest green huh? It looks good on you. I _like_ it!" A familiar voice called from the opposite hall.

Sunstreaker growled. "I'll show YOU forest green!" and he ran down the hall chasing after a laughing Jazz.

Optimus Prime, who had just turned the corner, noticed Sunstreaker dash down the hall after Jazz and decided to inquire with the girls as to why he was painted green. But he thought better.

"Should I even ask?"

"Nope!" Melanie replied.

Slow thundering footsteps could be heard coming back towards the door. Melanie flinched. The minute Tracks was in view again, he used his arms and legs and filled out the entire doorway, almost as if he was using his body language to say "_you're not going anywhere_".

"F-forget something?" Melanie stuttered.

"As a matter of fact, yes." He uttered in a serious tone.

"Melanie, assume the position."

She reluctantly placed her hands on the nearest wall so that her back was facing him. She braced herself when she heard his approach.

"Now I warned you, kiddo. Fair and square. So there better be no plans of escape, revenge, or anything of that nature."

She didn't reply. The only thing she could do was close her eyes and brace herself. She heard the sound of his metal fingers inches away from tickling her. The minute his fingers made contact, she held back her laughing. The only sound that escaped, was the hissing coming from her tightened mouth.

"What are you doing?" He wondered. Then he figured it out.

"Oh. Trying to hold it in huh? Nice try, Mel. But you're gonna have to laugh sooner or later, and I'm not stopping till you do!"

She smiled through her teeth, but he was right, the more she fought it, the harder it was to hold it in. When she couldn't take it anymore, she let loose a shrieking laugh!

"AAAAHHHAAHAHAHA!!! OKAY! OKAY! YOU GOT ME!!! STOP!!!"

Satisfied with his results, he pulled his fingers away.

Sideswipe came back into the room, continuously looking over his shoulder for Sunstreaker. Melanie saw him return and figured Camille was in for a punishment as well. But she was shocked when she heard what that punishment was.

"C'mon Camille, let's head back to our room for some ice cream."

"_Ice cream_?!" Melanie shouted. "What kind of punishment is that?"

"It's not a punishment, it's a reward! I wanted her to do those things to my bro because he got me good a couple of weeks ago, and since then I've been planning the perfect revenge…which you two perfectly executed today. Besides, what better way to get him back than to have him baby-sit _you _guys?"

Melanie turned to Camille.

"You never told me that was the reason you wanted me to collect the paint and brushes!"

"I just figured there would be no harm if I left that little bit of information out." She answered nervously.

"Well I'm not gonna let you get off scot free while _I _take the full punishment for both of us!"

Melanie then turned to Tracks.

"Big brother? I'm sure you know what to do."

It was as if he had read her mind. Without saying a word, he gripped Camille hands gently with his fingertips and lifted her so she was just barely floating off the ground.

"TRACKS!" Camille shouted. "What are you doing!? Put me down!"

"Sorry Cammy, but I'm going to have to agree with her, she does have a point." He stated. "Okay kiddo, she's all yours."

Melanie smiled mischievously as she approached with her hands above her head curled over as if they were claws. She then assaulted Camille's exposed sides causing her to squirm and giggle in defiance.

"Ahahaha! Siiiides! Sideswipe help me!"

"I don't know…" he began.

"You did pull a joke on me last week by secretly putting eggs behind my tires and asking me to back up. So I'd say this is fair game."

She rolled her eyes in defeat and took the rest of her punishment. When Tracks finally released her, She and Melanie stood staring at each other, then after a minute of fighting back their smiles, they finally they broke out into laughter, and both gave themselves a big hug.


	13. Chapter 13

Hey All! Sorry for the almost a year break. As we all know, life happens. Well, during my absence, I was able to think up a new story...two new stories if you count the new oneshot I posted a few weeks ago called **A Fool's Errand** featuring Prowl and Starscream. But mostly the new chapter to this story...thanks to the inspiration of Trackster's visit to me here in the states again. We had a ball at the recent Botcon in Pasadena, CA and she was able to meet the voices of Tracks and Optimus Prime in person! (Mike McConnohie and Peter Cullen) Can't have a better vacation than that! =) Anyways, enjoy the story and thanks to those of you who checked me under your favorite author, favorite story and story alerts. I really appreciate it!

**America's Favorite Pastime**

Tracks eyed the human television in front of him nervously with his fingertips in his mouth. He was clearly absorbed in the program and was anxious to view the show's climax. When it came, he watched as the villain of the show assembled a bomb in the shape of a small round human object that was white with red curved stitches holding it together. He saw the villain take the object, and was about to throw it at the show's heroine, when the TV screen went blank.

"Hey! What happened?"

Melanie stood behind him, holding the TV remote in her hand.

"Honestly, Tracks. You watch too much TV."

Tracks got up and towered over the much smaller human.

"Now Kiddo, you know that TV shows don't phase me, right? I know they're just make-believe."

She raised and eyebrow at him. He then responded with a confused expression.

"Now what's _that_ look supposed to mean?"

"You seriously don't remember, do you?" She said.

"Remember what?"

But before she could answer, Tracks' comlink buzzed with the sound of his buddy, Sideswipe's voice.

"Hey Big Blue! What's taking you guys so long? Camille and me are halfway to the Baseball Stadium! Get your afts in gear and get down here already! Or as Camille says, 'there won't be no more hot dogs left!' Haha!"

Tracks put a finger to the side of his head, and responded.

"Okay, okay. We're on our way."

He knelt down next to Melanie, and thumbed the direction over his shoulder.

"Come on, kiddo. It's time for us to hit the road."

Melanie smiled. "Don't worry big brother, you can easily drive 150 miles per hour. At that speed, we'll be there in no time!"

Tracks agreed, then transformed into his auto mode, a sleek blue Chevrolet Corvette with those in-mistakable red and yellow flames on the hood. She climbed in and his engine roared as he sped down the halls of the Ark.

Once outside and on the 2-lane interstate, the road stretched for miles, without another driver in sight. They drove nonstop and undisturbed for about a half an hour, but the delight of having the open road all to themselves, was unfortunately, only temporary.

Suddenly, a big silver big rig appeared in the distance up ahead, sluggishly hogging the road in front of him. Tracks brought his speed down tremendously and was tailing the semi very closely. He decided to do what he's seen many human drivers do when put in a situation like this.

He was going to speed to get around the truck.

This would mean he would have to cross the double yellow lines and be facing oncoming traffic. But without another thought on the matter, Tracks sped up and soon pulled up alongside its trailer.

He paused for a moment next to it.

It was then that Melanie's acute senses figured out the reason for his delay.

"Tracks? Are you…are you _actually_ looking at your reflection through the hull of the trucks' trailer?"

A very embarrassed Tracks responded with a broken voice.

"No."

Melanie saw through his feeble attempt to sound non-chalant.

"Really, Tracks. I think we need to change your name to 'Snobbinton McStuck-up'!"

Tracks cringed. "That's an _awful_ name!"

"But it fits you perfectly! Ha ha! Oh Tracks…I swear someday your vanity will be the death of—TRACKS! EYES ON THE ROAD!"

"AAAAHHH!" Tracks swerved to avoid hitting a car coming right in his direction.

He straightened out and quickly sped up to get in front of the semi truck, as he earlier envisioned. He exhaled through his exhaust.

"Whew! Thanks for the save, kiddo. Still don't know what I'd do without you."

Melanie smiled. Soon the sun was starting to show the beginning signs that sunset was approaching, the orange sky, the beginning of the chilly night breezes, and just as these things were happening, Mel and Tracks had pulled up to the baseball stadium.

Camille, who was sitting in a perfect place to view their arrival, waved to them and asked Mel to come on up. Melanie chanting the words: "Hot dog! hot dog! hot dog!" as she hurried up the stairs to where Camille was.

Once seated, the two girls prehistorically devoured their hot dogs as if they've been starving for days. Tracks parked next to Sideswipe and monitored them from afar in disgust.

"Ugh. Some eating habits are too disgusting to watch in my opinion. Those two sometimes eat like animals! Well, more Camille than my kiddo, she only eats like that when its hot dogs. And they have the _nerve_ to call themselves 'ladies'!"

"Hey Tracks, chill. They're just enjoying themselves. Let's do them a favor and just protect them without the moronic unnecessary insults?"

Tracks huffed. "Moronic? Who you calling moronic?"

Sideswipe laughed. "Ha ha! Just watch the game, Big Blue."

As the game played on, a fly ball was hit and was heading right in the girls' direction. Tracks wasn't to keen on the whole idea of baseball, but the moment he scanned the small round human object with curved red stitches heading straight for them, his memory banks recalled a similar object he had seen only hours before.

His processor went blank, till one word popped into his head, and out his vocal processor.

"BOMB!"

The blue Autobot came out of car mode and dove into the stadium hands-first to grab the small object before it got to the girls. He did so successfully, and without hurting anybody, but his diving catch, combined with his mass and weight, wasn't very kind on the infield grass. The whole stadium gasped and went silent.

The only voice heard was that of a very angry Melanie.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING!"

Tracks held the so-called 'bomb' tightly under his body in case it was in danger of exploding.

"I'm doing my guardian duty and saving you from this bomb!"

Upon hearing his words, the stadium patrons all burst into laughter.

Melanie was muddled for a second, then quickly remembered the movie Tracks was watching moments before turning off the TV.

"Tracks…it's not a real bomb. It's just a baseball. Scan it for yourself."

He carefully brought it out and scanned it. The information his processor returned with made him red in the face…but luckily it wasn't noticeable to the crowd, since his face was originally red in color to begin with. He felt very small in the midst of all the laughing. He let the ball fall from his limp hand, transformed into car mode, and sped away, clearly embarrassed.

Camille watched the whole ordeal with a straight face.

"Well I guess that means you're getting a ride home with me and Sideswipe."

Melanie collected her things, and Camille followed suit. They left the stadium and boarded Sideswipe for home. He was curious why Tracks had sped away. The girls then filled him in on his lackluster performance as a guardian today.

Once home, Melanie exited her temporary transportation vehicle and wished him and Camille a good night and approached the door of the room she and Tracks shared. She opened the door slowly. The lights were off and a shiny blue object remained in car mode in the corner.

"Tracks? Are you okay?"

He didn't answer.

"C'mon Tracks. It was an honest mistake." She walked up beside him and put her hand on him.

"I _did_ warn you about watching those movies and what might happen. But at least the crowd got a big kick out of what you did tonight!"

He chuckled. "Heh, heh. They did, didn't they?"

"There's no reason to be embarrassed." She told him comfortingly.

"I guess you're right." Tracks said, finally agreeing with her.

Melanie then stepped a little closer to the front of his car mode. "Are you still stressed? Do you need some therapy?"

Tracks inquired on her odd offer.

"What kind of therapy?"

Melanie then maliciously bared her teeth. "TICKLE THERAPY!"

She assaulted his flaming hood with her fingers, and since her hair was down, the loose strands added to the torture and she wiggled with intense speed to drive the Autobot insane.

"Ahh! Mel! Haha! You're standing too close! I can't transform unless you back away a bit!"

She increased the speed of her wailing fingers before responding with an evil smile.

"I know."

Tracks' howls, that begged Melanie to stop her infernal tickling, fell upon deaf ears once more.

Across the hall, there were two life forms, one human, one Cybertronian, whose ears were far from deaf, and were inadvertenly listening to the laughing coming from the room of their best friends.

"Sounds like another happy ending for them over there, right Camille?" Sideswipe said while petting Camille's head.

She smiled and pressed her head into his palm. "You can say that again."


End file.
